Discos accused of withholding market’s monthly revenues
Electricity Distribution Companies (Discos) have been accused of deliberately capping their monthly revenue remittances and keeping more money for themselves.
The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) made the accusations, even as President Muhammadu Buhari has rejected its request to buy brand new Sports Utility Vehicles (SUVs) for its chairman and seven commissioners.
According to Thisday, in its first quarter 2018 assessment report on Nigeria’s power market, the regulatory agency stated that the Discos were issued a total invoice of N163.1 billion but they remitted only N51.2 billion of the invoice, leaving a total deficit of N112 billion within the period under review.
NERC explained that there was a noticeable difference between the level of money collected by the Discos for electricity supplied to them and what they paid back to the market every month.
It suggested that even though the remittance levels in the market were still poor, it was not certain that the Discos paid back what was due to the market, threatening that it would initiate enforcement actions against such practices.
The report noted, “The commission has noted that tariff deficit is partly responsible for the poor remittance in the industry. However, the commission also notes that Discos need to improve on their remittance as the observed remittance performance did not reflect the level of revenue collection, suggesting that some Discos might be deliberately reducing their market remittance.
“To address the poor remittance by Discos, the commission continues to enforce actions that ensure an equitable distribution of market revenue under a structured regime. In addition, a framework, which ensures transparency in the utilisation of market funds to improve the liquidity in the Nigerian electricity supply industry, is currently being developed by the commission.”
According to NERC, the Discos were issued a total invoice of N163.1 billion for energy received from the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc (NBET) and for the services provided by the Market Operator (MO) department of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), but only N51.2 billion of the invoice was settled, leaving a total deficit of N112 billion within the period under review.