FG Meters 2.8m Customers In Three Years, Warns Of Vandalism

The Minister of Power, Joseph Tegbe, has disclosed that since the inception of this administration, over 2.8 million customers have been metered to bridge collection losses.

Tegbe also said that the Rural Electrification Agency has connected universities, hospitals, and rural communities to solar power.

The Minister spoke in Abuja on Tuesday during the 6th annual Conference of the Power Correspondent Association of Nigeria (PCAN).

He said, “Between 2023 and October 2026, additional transmission capacity in excess of 15,000MVA has been added to the national grid. In the past two months alone, adding over 1,300MVA to Nigeria’s transmission capacity.

“This has unlocked more power to the respective Distribution Companies (DisCos) for onward distribution to industrial and household customers.

He added that vandalism remains a serious threat to the power sector, damaging critical infrastructure and disrupting electricity supply.

In his keynote address, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of FGN Power Company Limited, Kenny Anuwe, said that thefederal government has stated that it invested over N10trn into the power sector since it was privatised in 2013.

He said the money invested is to keep the sector afloat and help private investors improve electricity for Nigerians.

Anuwe said if the money was not invested, the industry would not be where it is today.

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He, however, said in spite of the significant amount of money, it is frustrating that the country is yet to achieve its goals in electricity supply.

“But is it enough? How much money is enough? No matter how you look at it, no matter how critical you are about what the government’s role is, if the government did not put that money in, the industry would not be standing.”

He added that the agency is under the Presidential Power Initiative and it plays a role in coordinating and implementing, structuring commercial deals, securing financing, and delivering incremental power.

He added that it has delivered incremental power while working with some of its technical partners.

“Originally, when we started the PPI, we were working primarily with Siemens Energy, but Siemens Energy changed its own operating model. That operating model meant that they could not do what we call turnkey for the distribution and the transmission lines aspect.

“They’ve been able to do that for transmission substations, and we’re continuing to work with them in that particular area”, he said.

He explained that the pilot phase of the Siemens Programme has been completed, while phase one of the transmission substations and transmission lines project is going according to plan.

“We’ve experienced some delays, but we are marking the completion of the majority of those projects in Q1 2027. In terms of our project pipeline, we have batch two of the Siemens substations that will be implemented as soon as we get all of the necessary financing approvals, which, again, we’re targeting Q4 2026.

“So we believe that, in a matter of weeks, we should start the Siemens batch two project, which comprises 12 substations, and then the special projects for Omotosho substations, all of which will cumulatively deliver 3,400 megawatts”, Anuwe said.

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