Electricity supply below six hours daily –Report

 
Despite recent im­provement in power supply, the country is far from meet­ing its electricity needs as an independent study showed that the privatised Electricity Distribution Companies, DISCOs, are still providing consumers with less than six hours supply daily.
This is even as about 17 per cent of the popu­lation is completely excluded from those enjoying electricity na­tionwide.
An independent re­port by NOIPolls Lim­ited for second quarter (Q2) of 2015 showed that the average cumulative power supply received per day by Nigerian households within a 27-month period (April, 2013 to June, 2015) was below six hours per day.
The organisation in­dicated that individuals were relying and spend­ing more on alternative sources of power to en­sure efficiency in the running of their homes and businesses.
The report maintained that despite the reforms carried out in the power sector by government, Nigerians were still fac­ing erratic power supply as the monthly average cumulative hours re­ceived ranged from 3.9 – 8.2 hours per day; with 17 per cent of the entire population not receiving electricity at all in the period in view.
It indicated that households receiving such low periods (hours) of power supply in the 21st century is indica­tive of a deficiency in infrastructural develop­ment that goes beyond theoretical reforms and unbundling of assets, while also emphasising the urgent need for an entire overhaul of the sector.
The report showed further that a direct ef­fect of the poor power supply can be seen in the number of Nigeri­ans (77.5 per cent) who resorted to purchasing and using alternative sources of electricity for residential and busi­ness purposes, adding that this has created an additional strain on the financial burden of the households.
Similarly, the report stated that findings from previous NOIPolls power reports showed that Ni­gerians typically spend between 3,302 – 3,726 on actual electricity supply, while spending between 7,866 – 12,351 in running alternative sources of power supply within a 15-month period from (April 2014 to June 2015).
It maintained that ow­ing to the lack of growth and capacity to meet demand of electricity consumers, the Federal Government initiated a series of reform projects and policies whose core objective was to ensure that Nigeria has an ef­ficient electricity sup­ply industry that could meet the needs of its citizens in the 21st cen­tury by providing all current and prospective economically justifiable demands throughout the country.
The report observed that due to lack of ad­equate infrastructure in the sector, as the last transmission line was built in 1987 and the youngest plant in 1990, average daily generation dwindled down to 1,750 mw some months ago, leaving an estimated over 90 million without access to grid electricity.
Despite the attempted reforms of the sector, the report noted that Ni­geria had been unable to generate more than 4,500mw for over 170 mil­lion people.
According to the re­port, the inability to meet current demand has led to a high rate of load shedding, which has inevitably resulted in low power and com­plete absence (in some areas of the country) of power supply experi­enced all around the na­tion
NOIPolls introduced the Power Polls in 2013 to explore the percep­tion of Nigerians to­wards the power sector reforms.
The company stated that the polls were be­ing conducted monthly to explore the amount of power supply received daily and expenditures made on power supply, as well as the state of power supply to house­holds and its effect on consumers, especially in the use of alternative sources of power and it financial implications.
It also disclosed that the result presented is a 27-Month tracking of the usage of alternative sources of power supply by Nigerian households