JOIN NOW, EARN 50% OF OUR TOTAL REVENUE MONTHLY

Despite an increase in their collection efficiency,
the remittance by electricity distribution
companies to the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading
Plc for the energy received by them dropped to
27.5 per cent in the third quarter of 2018 from
31.5 per cent in the previous quarter.
The latest quarterly report released by the
Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission on
Tuesday showed that the Discos failed to remit a
total of N108.4bn to NBET in the third quarter.
The government-owned NBET buys electricity in
bulk from generation companies through Power
Purchase Agreements and sells to the Discos,
which then supply to the consumers.
The report revealed that the collection efficiency
of the Discos increased from 64.2 per cent in the
second quarter to 65.5 per cent in the third
quarter.
It said, “During the third quarter of 2018, the 11
Discos were issued a total invoice of N162.5bn for
energy received from NBET and for service charge
by the Market Operator, but only a sum of
N54.1bn (33.3 per cent) was settled by the
Discos, creating a significant deficit of N108.4bn
in the market.”
NERC said only two of the Discos recorded an
increase in remittance performance in the third
quarter, adding that none of them remitted up to
50 per cent of their market invoices.
The report showed that Ikeja Disco recorded the
highest remittance efficiency (43 per cent),
followed by Eko Disco with 42 per cent.
It said Kaduna Disco recorded the worst
remittance performance of 10 per cent, followed
by Jos Disco (11 per cent).
The regulator said while the low remittance by
the Discos to NBET and the MO was partly due to
tariff shortfall, the Discos must improve on their
technical and commercial efficiencies for
improvements on the payment obligation to the
market, thereby improving sector liquidity.
“A major initiative towards improving revenue
collection in the electricity industry is the
provision of meters to all registered end-use
consumers of electricity,” it added.
According to the report, the challenge of poor
remittance has remained a serious concern to the
commission as it is one of the main causes of the
liquidity crisis facing the Nigerian electricity
supply industry.
It said, “Low remittance adversely affects the
ability of NBET to honour its obligations to
Gencos while service providers (Transmission
Service Provider, MO and NERC) struggle with the
paucity of funds impacting their capacity to
perform their statutory obligations.
“To address the poor remittance by Discos, the
commission has commenced enforcement actions
against Discos found to have engaged in
unacceptably low remittances to NBET and the
MO, factoring in all the parameters embedded in
the tariff model.
“In this regard, the commission is finalising a
framework which ensures transparency and equity
in the disbursement of market funds for the
benefit of all participants in the industry.”
Source: punchng.com/power-distributors-owe-nbet-n108bn-in-three-months/

That is a good one