Persistent blackouts in northern Nigeria have led to significant losses for electricity distribution companies, amounting to approximately N74 billion between July and September, as reported by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).
Adding to the crisis, the country experienced its 10th national grid collapse of 2024 in early November, plunging the nation into widespread darkness. Confirming the incident, the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) stated, “The national grid experienced a partial disturbance at about 1:52 pm on November 5, 2024.” According to TCN spokesperson Ndidi Mbah, this was triggered by a series of line and generator trips, which destabilized the grid and caused a partial system collapse.
In October alone, three separate grid failures disrupted electricity supply nationwide. The situation in northern Nigeria has been further compounded by the vandalization of the Shiroro-Kaduna transmission line, a key power supply route to the region. This act of sabotage caused a total blackout across 17 northern states for two weeks.
States affected by the outage include Kaduna, Kano, Jigawa, Gombe, Katsina, Sokoto, Zamfara, Bauchi, Yobe, Borno, Adamawa, Taraba, Niger, Plateau, Nasarawa, Kogi, and Benue.
The worsening power disruptions significantly impacted the five distribution companies (Discos) operating in the region—Kano, Abuja, Yola, Kaduna, and Jos Discos. Collectively, these firms reported losses of N73.68 billion in the three-month period, as indicated by their commercial performance fact sheet released by NERC.
Between July and September, the Discos billed customers N209 billion for electricity but managed to collect only N135.6 billion due to the declining power supply.
- July: Losses of N19.7 billion, with collections of N46.4 billion out of N66.17 billion billed.
- August: Losses increased to N22.69 billion, with collections of N46.92 billion from N69.61 billion billed.
- September: Losses peaked at N31.22 billion, with only N42.31 billion collected from N73.61 billion billed.
Among the Discos, Kano Disco was the hardest hit, losing N11.88 billion in September after collecting just N3.07 billion from N14.95 billion billed. Other September losses included:
- Abuja Disco: N6.49 billion
- Yola Disco: N2.56 billion
- Kaduna Disco: N3.8 billion
- Jos Disco: N6.57 billion
For July and August, Kano Disco also reported losses of N5.61 billion and N5.86 billion, respectively.
The Federal Government has attributed the persistent blackouts to ongoing attacks on critical electricity infrastructure in the region.