Discos’ revenue rises to N480b but power supply down 104 Gwh
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Revenue generated by electricity distribution companies (DisCos) rose 20.81 per cent year-on-year (YoY) between 2022 and 2023 despite a 1.74 per cent drop in supply, according to figures compiled by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
Discos made N247.33 billion revenue in Q1 2023, higher than N204.74 billion in Q1 2022.
However, electricity supply was 5,852 gigawatt hours (Gwh) in Q1 2023, down from 5,956 Gwh in Q1 2022.
The report shows Discos collected N232.32 billion revenue in Q4, 2022, bringing the total in six months to N479.65 billion.
“Revenue collected by the Discos during the period was N247.33 billion from N232.32 billion in Q4 2022. On a year-on-year basis, revenue generated in the reference period rose by 20.81 per cent from N204.74 billion recorded in Q1 2022.
“Electricity supply was 5,852 (Gwh) in Q1 2023 from 5,611 (Gwh) in the previous quarter. However, on a year-on-year basis, electricity supply declined by 1.74 per cent compared to 5,956 (Gwh) reported in Q1 2022.”
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Customer numbers
The NBS also disclosed a rise in the total number of customers, per The PUNCH.
“Total customer numbers in Q1 2023 stood at 11.27 million from 11.06 million in Q4 2022, showing an increase of 1.89 per cent. On a year-on-year basis, customer numbers in Q1 2023 rose by 5.99 per cent from 10.63 million reported in Q1 2022.
“Similarly, metered customers stood at 5.31 million in Q1 2023, indicating a growth of 3.61 per cent from 5.13 million recorded in the preceding quarter. On a year-on-year basis, this grew by 10.86 per cent from the figure reported in Q1 2022 which was 4.79 million.
“In addition, estimated customers during the quarter were 5.96 million in Q1 2023, higher by 0.40 per cent from 5.93 million in Q4 2022. On a year-on-year basis, estimated customers increased by 1.99 per cent in Q1 2023 from 5.84 million in Q1 2022.”
Ibadan DisCo had the highest number of customers in Q1 2023, about 2.23 million, followed by Abuja DisCo (1.32 million), and Enugu DisCo (1.23 million).
But Ikeja DisCo with 1.07 million customers had the highest revenue (N49.76 million), followed by Eko DisCo with 666,941 customers (N41.73 million), and Abuja DisCo (N38.12 million).
DisCos quietly increased their tariff in January and have announced customers will pay more from July 1.
Customers have kicked against the move, describing it as “a perfect robbery” amid the harsh economic realities and unstable power supply.