Lawmakers in the House of Representatives are planning legislation on electricity theft in the country.
The categorisation of many customers into Band A has led to the inability of several consumers to pay for the electricity they consume as such resulted in meter bypass and increasing power theft in the country.
The Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Privatisation and Commercialisation, Hamisu Chidari Ibrahim said his committee would work with relevant committees in the House to pass legislation on electricity theft to check the abuse.
He spoke during an oversight visit to the Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC) in Lagos, where he decried the rate of electricity theft in the country and sought collaboration between the committee and electricity power companies for an effective and efficient power supply
He noted that such collaborative efforts would allow the committee to provide legislative solutions.
He commended EKEDC for attaining and maintaining the best-rated status amongst power distribution companies in the country and urged its management and staff to uphold the status. According to him, the visit was in line with the legislative functions of the committee to oversee all privatised and concessioned enterprises by the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE).
He said the committee and the power companies would work closely to fight electricity theft adding the House had passed a motion for the quick recovery of debts owed by power companies by Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs).
The acting Managing Director of EKEDC, R. Momoh said the company is the only Disco in the country that has reduced its Aggregate Technical & Commercial (ATC&C) Losses Ratio to the lowest minimum despite the challenges in the power sector.
Aggregate Technical & Commercial (AT&C) loss is a measure of the performance of a power distribution system that includes both technical and commercial losses. Technical losses come from infrastructural limitations or deficiencies, such as bleed-off from line and energy transport, poorly performing transformers, poorly maintained plant equipment, or plant equipment that is not maintained. Commercial losses are due to the non-realization of billed amounts.
EKEDC had reduced the AtC&C Losses Ratio from 35 percent in 2023 to 15.1 per cent in 2024 and has over 700,000 metered customers. The company is also working out modalities in collaboration with the federal government Distribution Sector Recovery Program (DISREP) to procure an additional 92,000 meters for its customers.
The Disco boss stated that EKEDC had made significant improvements in technology, provision of meters and transformers even as she revealed that “EKEDC is the only Disco that fulfills its monthly obligations remittance to the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading (NBET) Company”.
She said the company was owed N144bn by MDAs in its area of operation and that the Nigerian Military, the Nigerian Police Force, and other state government agencies have refused to pay up their debts, thus posing a challenge for the Disco.
