Energy Theft, Obsolete Infrastructure Deepen Nigeria’s Elect

The President of the Nigeria Consumer Protection Network, Mr Kunle Olubiyo, says Nigeria’s electricity sector continues to suffer massive revenue losses due to widespread energy theft and obsolete metering systems.
Olubiyo noted this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Monday in Abuja.

Energy theft occurs at both the consumer and institutional levels across the electricity value chain from generation to transmission and distribution.

According to Olubiyo, at the consumer level, electricity theft includes metre bypass, illegal connections and unauthorised access to power without proper billing.

According to him, some customers would dig underground cables directly to their homes or businesses without being metered, while others exploit estimated billing systems to consume electricity without payment.

“Whether through metre bypass or illegal connection, many customers are using electricity for free. That is energy theft,” he told NAN.

He also alleged that institutional energy theft exists within the power sector, particularly through defective, obsolete, or wrongly installed meters used in monitoring electricity generation and distribution.

He said that wholesale metres installed at critical interfaces among generation companies (GenCos), transmission companies, and distribution companies (DisCos) were often outdated or improperly configured.
He said those could lead to inaccurate readings and inflated subsidy claims.

“If 4,000 megawatts is generated and 7,000 megawatts is recorded, that is energy theft because the excess energy does not get to consumers,” he stated.

The expert further said that some operators in the sector allegedly exploit maintenance and repair contracts through inflated contract sums and possible collaboration with vandals.

According to him, contracts for grid repairs that should cost hundreds of millions of naira are sometimes awarded for several billions.

“When transmission towers collapse, or infrastructure is vandalised, there is often a chain of beneficiaries from the repair contracts,” he told NAN.

He identified poor investment and lack of financial capacity among some electricity distribution companies as a major contributor to deteriorating infrastructure nationwide.

He cited instances where transformers remained faulty for years because DisCos allegedly lacked resources to carry out replacements or maintenance work.

He cited a case where residents reportedly contributed millions of naira to repair transformers in their communities without success, while state governments and the private sector had to intervene in some cases.

The expert warned that illegal and unsafe connections also posed serious safety risks to electricity workers and consumers.

He described cases where customers allegedly connect to multiple transmission lines of different voltage capacities to the same building without proper changeover systems.

He said these could create dangerous “back-feeding” that could lead to electrocution, fire outbreaks, and network failures.

He said the solution to the crisis was largely in deploying modern technology and enforcing stricter regulations under the Electricity Act.

According to him, technologies such as smart metering, grid telemetry systems, GPS-enabled monitoring, and advanced check metres could significantly reduce energy theft and vandalism.

“Technology has a major role to play in ending energy theft and vandalism. Smart metering and proper monitoring systems will go a long way in reducing losses,” he said.

He also cited the deployment of secure pole-mounted metres in military barracks as an example of how technology can curb metre tampering and unauthorised access.

He, therefore, said the sector had to urgently address infrastructure decay, weak regulation, poor investment, and corruption within the value chain.

Otherwise, according to him, Nigeria’s electricity industry will continue to face liquidity challenges, revenue losses and unstable power supply.

NAN