DisCos fail to distribute over 1,000MW of electricity in 14 days

This development comes amid the incessant blackouts experienced by Nigerians and the destruction of electricity structures in the northern region.

According to data obtained from TCN, excess electricity load was allocated to some DisCos during the period but they failed to utilise the volume of energy allocated to them.

Despite the low power generation, the DisCos further compounded the power crisis by failing to utilise the distributed power as revealed by the Power Minister, Adebayo Adelabu who accused the DisCos of deliberately refusing to receive and distribute power transmitted by the TCN.

“Findings revealed that some distribution companies were deliberately not taking up power supply from TCN while some power lines were also damaged by vandals in Abuja, Benin, Port Harcourt and Ibadan regions,” Adelabu stated.

The unutilised power is the difference between the actual consumed energy and the electricity load allocated to the DisCos.

A breakdown of the power utilisation by DisCos revealed that from February 1 to February 14, 2024, a total of about 1,769.91MW of electricity was not utilised by DisCos while they received excess load allocation of about 1,381.36MW during the period.

By taking excess load, it means the DisCos' actual energy consumption for that particular day was higher than the load allocated to it by the Transmission Company of Nigeria.

DisCos have, however, raised concerns about the harsh operating environment in the sector. They highlighted some key fundamental deficiencies of the sub-sector which include debt owed by MDAs, inconsistent and unsustainable electricity tariff modelling and implementation, electricity theft, etc.

The Power Minister has summoned some power firms and the TCN to provide reasons for the worsening state of electricity supply in some affected regions.

According to the Special Adviser, Strategic Communications and Media Relations to the minister, Bolaji Tunji, the meeting between the Power Minister, the CEOs of some DisCos, as well as TCN would discuss issues bothering on the worsening power supply while the management of other non-performing Discos would also be queried over non-performance.