EKEDC posts highest remittance efficiency in Q2, Says NERC

The Nigerian Electricity Regulation Commission (NERC), recently announced that Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC) posted the highest remittance efficiency of 43.3 per cent in the second quarter of 2019.

In addition to the report, NERC also said Jos and Kaduna DisCos had the lowest performance of 13.1 per cent and 13.5 per cent respectively during the same period.

The commission also expressed concern over the significant drop in Enugu DisCo’s remittance rate from 30.44 per cent in Q1 2019 to 24.55 per cent in Q2 2019.

NERC said: “The challenge of low remittance to the market is still a concern to the commission as it is one of the main causes of the liquidity crisis facing the Nigerian electricity supply industry.

“As highlighted in the preceding quarters, low remittance adversely affects the ability of the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading (NBET) Plc to honour its financial obligations to GenCos.

“Service providers; Transmission Service Provider (TSP), Market Operator (MO) and NERC also struggle with the paucity of funds, which is impacting their capacity to perform their statutory obligations.

“The individual performance indicates that, with the exception of Enugu and Ibadan DisCos, the DisCos recorded increase in their remittance performance in the second quarter of 2019.

“Also, the aggregate combined invoice settlement rate for all DisCos rose to 30.6 per cent. However, none of the DisCos remitted up to 50 per cent of their market invoice.”

The commission noted that DisCos must improve their efforts towards reducing Aggregate Technical, Commercial and Collection (ATC&C) losses to levels commensurate with their performance agreements.

It said Ikeja Electric recorded the highest progress in reducing ATC&C losses, decreasing to 25.9 per cent in the second quarter of 2019.

NERC said seven other DisCos, excluding Abuja, Enugu and Yola, also recorded relative improvements in their ATC&C losses during the quarter under review.