Nigeria’s electricity customer base increased by 1.78% to 12.33 million in the first quarter of 2024, up from 12.12 million in Q1 2023.
This was disclosed by the National Bureau of Statistics in its latest Nigeria Electricity Report.
From Q1 2023, electricity customers in Nigeria increased by 9.47% to 11.27 million.
The report indicated that there were 5.91 million metered electricity customers and 6.43 million unmetered or estimated billing customers in Q1 2024.
Metered customers increased by 5.38% from 5.61 million in the previous quarter and by 10.22% from 5.83 million in Q4 2023.
“On a year-on-year basis, estimated customers increased by 7.88% in Q1 2024 from 5.96 million in Q1 2023”, the report stated. This portend a widening metering gap in Nigeria.
To address the metering shortfall, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission recently authorised the allocation of N21 billion to purchase meters for electricity distribution firms.