OpeOluwani Akintayo
02 August 2018, Sweetcrude, Port Harcourt — The Rural Electricity Agency, REA, has blamed challenges in the power sector on electricity distribution companies or Discos and their inability to know the exact number of meters already distributed to customers.
In a statement on Wednesday, Mrs. Damilola Ogunbiyi, Managing Director of the agency, said the nation’s access to electricity is still challenged because of inaccurate data from power distribution companies on the exact number of metered customers, adding that the utility firms have conflicting figures from what the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, has.
According to her, access to electricity is also challenged because the cost of grid extension is greater than revenue achievable, especially for small communities.
She, however, said her agency is currently pushing for solar home systems through which millions of Nigerians could have access to reliable light and power from the private market.
She also said the agency would exploit the mini-grid regulation designed to accelerate electrification in areas without any existing distributed grid and in areas with an existing but poorly electrified or non-functional distribution grid, adding that about 80million Nigerians lack access to grid electricity in the country.
According to her, “Up to 83.6% of the population has access, while only 39.1% of the rural population did. Levels of access to electricity also vary between the states”.
