… sees steady improvement in financial, business performance following restoration of power supply to 85% on November 14

…appeals for prompt payment of outstanding bills

Oredola Adeola

Kano Electricity Distribution Company (KEDCO) has expressed regret over its poorest market performance this year, citing the lack of grid supply during the September–October 2024 billing cycle.

The DisCo lamented that the situation has led to widespread blackouts and imposed significant financial and operational challenges on both the company and its customers, many of whom it revealed have turned to expensive backup sources or halted operations.

Sani Bala Sani, Head, Corporate Communication stated this in a statement released by the company of the sideline of the Commercial Performance Report for Distribution Companies (DisCos) for September 2024, recently released by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).

Kano DisCo in the recent data recorded one of the lowest performances, with a collection efficiency of just 20.56%, down by a staggering 37.69%.

The DisCo collected ₦3.07 billion from billings of ₦14.95 billion, achieving a recovery efficiency of 20.83% with an average collection of ₦24.14/kWh against ₦115.89/kWh allowable tariff.

The KEDCO has therefore acknowledged a steady improvement in its financial and business performance, following the restoration of power supply, marking a positive turn after the recent challenges.

Recall that KEDCO, alongside three (3) other distribution companies in the Northeast and Northwest had significant disruption to power supply in October, with KEDCO being the worst hit.

Sani stated that the KEDCO operations were initially impacted on October 13, 2024, with only 40% of our grid allocation being supplied after the Shiroro-Kaduna 330kV line incident, further exacerbated by a total blackout on October 20th, 2024, the peak of the DisCo’ revenue collection cycle.

He said, “Although the power supply was partially restored to a 40% level on October 30, we were only availed with up to around 85% supply levels on November 14th and anxiously awaiting completion of the Shiroro-Kaduna repairs.

“Regrettably, the incident presented us with our worst market performance this year. Having zero grid supply posed significant financial and economic challenges for KEDCO and its customers, with many customers resorting to costly backup sources or shutting down operations.

“In our best-performing months our ATC&C losses parameter, was sharply down by over 20%, to a record of 40% and we plan to return to those levels,” the DisCo’s spokesperson said.

He further emphasised that, with the current power supply at around 85%, KEDCO has recorded significant collections from last month’s arrears.

Sani appealed to the company’s customers to continue to cooperate with us on prompt settlement of their current bills and arrears, for business sustainability.

He emphasised that the company’s core investor and Board remain committed to driving investments and enhancing performance through embedded generation supply options in their network.

This, according to him, will be achieved via the Safe Grid and Utility 2.0 projects in collaboration with tri-state governments and under the guidance of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), with a call for continued customer cooperation to bring this vision to life.