The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has revealed that 53.8 percent of electricity customers nationwide, equivalent to 7,182,909 customers, remain unmetered as of the third quarter (Q3) of 2024.
In its latest Q3 2024 report released on Tuesday, the Commission disclosed that only 6,156,726 customers, representing 46.15 percent of the 13,339,635 registered electricity consumers, have been metered.
The report highlighted a significant improvement in metering installations, with 184,507 customers receiving meters in Q3. Ikeja, Ibadan, and Abuja DisCos led the effort, accounting for 25.45%, 21.48%, and 14.61% of the total meter installations, respectively.
“Relative to 2024/Q2, when 51,826 customers were metered, there was a 256.01% increase in the total number of customers metered in 2024/Q3,” NERC noted.
The report also revealed performance disparities among electricity distribution companies (DisCos). While most DisCos recorded improvements in meter installations, Aba (-43.90%), Kaduna (-24.69%), and Jos (-9.31%) DisCos reported declines. Meanwhile, Eko, Ibadan, Ikeja, and Benin DisCos achieved the highest improvements with +2,120%, +575.60%, +417.40%, and +389.32%, respectively.
Customer Complaints Surge by 14.35%
The report further disclosed that metering and billing issues dominated customer complaints in Q3 2024, accounting for 63 percent of all grievances reported to DisCos.
In total, DisCos received 328,696 complaints during the quarter, a 14.35 percent increase from the 287,441 complaints recorded in Q2 2024.
The most common complaints were related to:
- Metering (41.95%)
- Billing (21.28%)
- Service interruption (7.05%)
These three categories accounted for 70.28 percent of total complaints.
Among the DisCos, Eko DisCo received the highest number of complaints at 64,987 (19.77%), while Yola DisCo recorded the least at 2,583 (0.79%).
Increases in complaints were most notable in Benin (+96.16%), Kano (+52.22%), Yola (+26.74%), Eko (+21.75%), and Abuja (+21.30%) DisCos. However, Enugu DisCo was the only company to record a decrease in complaints, with a -5.68% drop compared to Q2 2024.
Low Complaint Resolution Rate
The Commission reported that its Customer Complaint Units (CCUs) received 5,287 complaints during the period. However, only 1,647 complaints were resolved, reflecting a resolution rate of 31.15 percent.
Despite the low resolution rate, this marked an improvement compared to the 22.38 percent resolution rate recorded in Q2 2024, representing an 8.77 percent increase.
