The Federal Government has licenced 11 new Electricity Distribution Companies (Disco) in its bid to further deregulate electricity distribution in the country.
This was revealed by the FG in the 2022 Market Competition Report recently released by the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) an agency of the Federal Government.
Part of the report reads, “The commission has also licensed 17 Independent Electricity Distribution Network operators of which 11 are operational
The 11 new operators include:
Gateway Electricity Limited
Energy Company of Nigeria Plc
PIPP LVI Disco Limited
Bodituv Nigeria Limited
Uraga Power Distribution Company
Ariaria Independent Energy Distribution Network Ltd
Ladol Integrated Logistics Free Zone Enterprise
Babcock Consulting Limited
Constant Independent Electric Power Distribution Company Ltd
Alausa Distribution Limited
Notore Industrial City Limited.
It will be 10 years in November 2023 since the federal government privatized the electricity sector. Since then, the power sector as it is also called is divided into three value chains which are, power generation, power transmission, and power distribution.
The electricity distribution and generation companies in Nigeria became privatized in 2013, with the federal government retaining the ownership of the transmission company.
The country has twenty-three (23) power-generating plants connected to the national grid, with the capacity to generate electricity. These plants are managed by generation companies (GenCos), independent power providers, and Niger Delta Holding companies.
These distribution companies, which are known as ‘Discos’ are 11 in number and they are like privately-run companies with a board of directors and management team.
Depending on which state you reside in, you are expected to pay your electricity bills to a distribution company.
Except for Lagos State, all states have a single distribution company that serves them. This excludes remote areas that share borders with neighbouring states.
However, contrary to the intention of government that the licenced Discos would inject fresh funds into electricity distribution, it became apparent that the discos have different interest of appropriating unmerited profits through the instrumentality of estimated electricity billing system, rather than investing in the pre-paid metering system.
Presently electricity consumers continue to bear the burden of procuring pre-paid meters at prohibitive costs, even as the Discos refused to invest in free distribution of meters as enshrined in their contract with the Federal Government
With the advent of the Tinubu administration, expectations of Nigeria electricity consumers were that the contract that foisted the Disco on Nigerians would be terminated while new companies ready to deliver would be brought on board.
Whether the enlarged number of Discos could change the narratives of poor service delivery in the nation’s electricity distribution chain is yet uncertain.
