With the fifth collapse in 2024 of the nation’s power grid which occurred in the early hours of Monday, April 15, 2024, Nigerians will again continue to pay for darkness.
In the fourth quarter of 2023, unmetered electricity customers in the Nigerian electricity supply industry, NESI, decreased from 6 million in Q3 to 5.83 million; an indication that most Nigerians are unmetred.
Curiously, these unmetred Nigerians will receive monthly electricity bills for power they have not consumed or get disconnected from power supply on refusing to pay.
Data obtained from the Nigerian System Operator’s portal (niggrid.org), between 2:00 am till the time of filing this report, the grid recorded an unprecedented zero Megawatts (MW) at the time and is currently generating a meagre 52.3MW around 7:10 am the same day.
The consequences of this blackout were felt nationwide, as electricity distribution companies (DisCos) struggled to cope with the sudden and prolonged outage.
Many parts of the country have been plunged into darkness for over five hours as the grid is yet to come into full recovery.
This collapse marks the fifth grid disturbance in 2024, adding to challenges that have long plagued Nigeria’s power sector.
In a year already marred by disruptions, this latest incident stands out as the most severe, exacerbating the ongoing struggles consumers and industry stakeholders face.
Despite the widespread impact of the blackout, neither the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) nor the DisCos have yet to issue an official statement regarding the cause and resolution of the crisis.
As of the time this report was filed, the TCN had not stated to confirm the occurrence, leaving the public and stakeholders in the dark about the source and resolution of the newest crisis.
