NERC To Enforce Sanctions As DisCos Fail To Meet Energy Uptake Requirements
- The NERC Quarterly report for Q4 2024 shows that not all DisCos are distributing the minimum required energy to consumers
- It also stipulates sanctions for those DisCos that fail to meet the minimum PCC requirement
- About seven DisCos, including the Abuja and Kaduna DisCos will be facing the sanctions
Legit.ng journalist Ruth Okwumbu-Imafidon has over a decade of experience in business reporting across digital and mainstream media.
The Nigerian Electricity Regulation Commission (NERC) is set to enforce sanctions on electricity distribution companies (DisCos) that failed to meet the minimum energy offtake requirement.
The NERC Performance Monitoring Framework Orders (NERC/2024/086 – 096) issued on July 5, 2024, mandates DisCos to offtake at least 95% of allocated capacity quarterly or face sanctions.
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However, the NERC quarterly report for Q4, 2024 shows that several DisCos failed to meet this minimum requirement.
DisCos that met Energy offtake requirement
The NERC quarterly report, which monitors performance across the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI), also reveals critical information about the DisCos performance in absorbing and distributing the energy allocated to them.
According to this report, only five met the 95% offtake requirement in Q4. Benin DisCo was at the fore with 99.57%, an improvement from the 98.01% in Q3.
The others are; Enugu Disco which achieved 96.82% (a decline from the 98.65% in Q3) and Port Harcourt Disco with 96.62% (up from 95.11% in Q3, 2024).
Ibadan DisCo also recorded 96.60% (up from 94.70% in Q3), and Ikeja DisCo with 96.15% (a massive improvement from 89.56% in Q3).
Overall, energy offtake performance improved in Q4 to 94.61%, compared to Q3, 2024 where the cumulative average performance was pegged at 90.47%.
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7 DisCos to face NERC sanctions
Based on the NERC quarterly report, here are the DisCos that did not meet the 95% requirement and could face sanctions.
- Yola DisCo recorded the least with 76.89%.
- Kaduna DisCo only achieved 87.68%.
- Abuja DisCo improved from 86.52% in Q3, to 91.89% in Q4.
- Eko DisCo
- Aba DisCo
- Kano DisCo
- Jos DisCo
The report noted that NERC is keeping with its responsibility to ensure compliance and accountability, and is taking action against these DisCos.
It read;
“Pursuant to these provisions, the Commission has already commenced the appropriate enforcement actions against DisCos that did not meet the minimum off take requirement for 2024/Q4.”
Recall that NERC has also recently announced that metre bypass will attract penalties of up to N150,000.
The commission also warned against illegal connections, as the recent report shows over 112 deaths from electricity-related accidents.
The NERC report also reveals a connection between energy generation and the offtake performance, the NATION reports.
It noted that periods of higher energy generation seem to witness lower offtake due to inefficiencies, while lower energy generation leads to increase in offtake performance.
It reads;
“A reduction in available PCC across two quarters often leads to an increase in energy offtake performance while an increase in available PCC across two quarters often leads to a decrease in energy offtake performance.”
NERC sanctions DisCos over non-compliance
In related news, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has reeled out several sanctions against DisCos and their management over non-compliance.
The new sanctions could see a DisCo head of customer service losing his KYL as the penalty for not meeting the 75% requirement of complaint resolution.
This is part of the commission's move to keep electricity distribution companies accountable and protect consumers' interests.
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