Electricity Pricing and Revenue Performance of Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution (PHED) Commercial Operations in Uyo Metropolis, Akwa Ibom State

Abstract

Abstract

The study examined the various electricity prices or tariff rates based on the MYTO methodology as deployed by the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) and its impact on the revenue performance objective of PHED within the Uyo metropolis. The data used for the study was a 72-month monthly time series data sourced from the PHED database. It employed an Auto Regressive Distributive Lag (ARDL) econometric model to demonstrate if a relationship exists between the dependent variable, such as Total Revenue (TREV), and the independent variables such as Population of Customers Billed (POPB), Total energy received from the grid (RKWH), Total energy billed (BKWH); Total amount of energy billed in naira (PKWH), and Total number of customers that responded to payment (CURS). Furthermore, a proportional analysis was conducted to capture the various efficiency competencies and how the electricity company performed within the period under review (2019-2024). The choice of the period was based on the unavailability of data from 2013 when PHED became an entity. With an average of 52% Average Technical, Commercial, and Collection (ATC&C) losses recorded by PHED within the period, it is concluded that despite the relatively yearly reviewed tariff rates, PHED's revenue performance level appears average. It is recommended that the management of the company take advantage of the increases in the prices of electricity charged to the customers by ensuring an adequate power supply of about 18 – 20 hours, a reduction in excessive billing to non-metered customers based on estimation, and, above all, a massive deployment of prepaid meters to electricity consumers, which will greatly stem customers' apathy to payment, and this will impact positively on the revenue.