DROP IN ELECTRICITY SUPPLY IN ANAMBRA STATE: SETTING THE RECORDS STRAIGHT AND CLARIFYING THE ROLE OF FIRSTPOWER
March 11, 2026
The Management of FirstPower Electricity Distribution Company Limited (FPEDL) wishes to clarify and address the concerns of our customers across Anambra State regarding the recent significant drop in electricity supply being experienced in various communities.
We fully understand the inconvenience and disruption that irregular electricity supply causes to households, businesses, institutions, and industries. As a company responsible for electricity distribution in the state, we believe it is important to further provide transparent and factual explanations to the public about the current situation.
This statement therefore clarifies the root causes of the present supply challenges, the actual role of FirstPower in the electricity value chain, and ongoing efforts to improve service delivery.
1. Electricity Supply Challenges in Anambra Are Part of a Nationwide Situation
FirstPower Electricity Distribution Company Ltd. wishes to clearly state that the current drop in electricity supply is not peculiar to Anambra State, nor is it caused by any operational failure on the part of the company.
The Nigerian electricity sector operates through a three-tier value chain, which is (a) Generation Companies (GenCos) which produce electricity; (b) Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) which transmits electricity nationwide; and (c) Distribution Companies (DisCos) which distribute electricity to end users.
FirstPower operates only in the third and last (Distribution) segment of this chain, meaning that the company does not generate electricity and does not control the volume of electricity transmitted/sent to the state.
Electricity distributed by FirstPower is generated by GenCos, allocated through the national grid and transmitted through infrastructure managed by the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN).
2. National Power Generation Has Recently Dropped Significantly
Nigeria’s electricity supply has recently declined due to serious gas supply shortages affecting thermal power plants, which generate the majority of the country’s electricity.
The drop started late last year when there was an explosion at Escravos-Lagos gas pipeline on December 10, which disrupted operations of some power plants. The issue was fixed after about two weeks, and steady supply was restored. Then in January, the issue of the Federal Government debts to GenCos surfaced again.
GenCos operate thermal power plants that use natural gas to produce electricity. They connect their power plants to the national grid, allowing them to transmit generated electricity to the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) for distribution. GENCos sell electricity to the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading (NBET) Plc, which acts as a creditworthy off-taker, ensuring payment to Generation Companies.
Through this deal, the money owed to the GenCos reportedly rose to over ₦6 trillion as at early 2026. This was further complicated by the alleged debate that recently emerged between GenCos and the FG over the actual amount owed. Delving deep into the controversy about the actual total amount of the liability may not be necessary here. The most important point is that Generation Companies are owed, and that has weakened their ability to procure gas to fire their power plants to operate optimally and produce the required quantum of electricity.
As we may know, the recently-triggered and ongoing Israel/US—Iran War has also caused immediate scarcity of and spike in prices of petroleum products, further complicating the issue in the Nigeria’s energy sector. Nigeria’s power sector relies heavily on gas-fired plants, which supply more than 70 per cent of electricity on the national grid.
Recent operational reports from the Nigerian Independent System Operator (NISO) show that national generation has dropped significantly because thermal plants are receiving less than half of the gas required to operate optimally.
For instance, thermal power plants require approximately 1,588.61 million standard cubic feet of gas per day to operate optimally. However, only about 652.92 million standard cubic feet have been available in recent periods. This severe shortfall has forced several generating units to shut down or operate below capacity, thereby resulting in a significant reduction in electricity available on the national grid.
In February, as a result of these gas challenges and its effects, national electricity generation dropped to around 4,300 megawatts, far below demand. Moreso, recent shutdown of some more units caused a further reduction of about 292MW in available generation on the grid, thereby reducing the electricity available for transmission to distribution companies nationwide.
Consequently, grid operators have had to implement load shedding nationwide to maintain system stability. This ongoing load-shedding and maintenance works on major transmission lines (including the Mando-Shiroro transmission line) have significantly affected transmission nationwide.
Since all Distribution Companies depend on the same national grid, the reduction in generation (occasioned by gas supply shortage) automatically translates to reduced allocation to every state and every distribution company across Nigeria, which EEDC, FirstPower, and Anambra State are not exceptions.
3. Power Allocation to Anambra Has Dropped by More Than 50%
In Anambra State, electricity supplied to FirstPower comes through four TCN interface stations, namely: Awada, GCM, Agu-Awka, and Nibo interface stations.
Before the current generation constraints, the average daily allocation to these interface stations in Anambra State was approximately as follows:
Awada = 84.92 MW
GCM = 32.50 MW
Agu Awka = 26.42 MW
Nibo = 20.82 MW.
Total average daily allocation before = 164.66 MW.
This was what FirstPower (or EEDC as at then) was distributing to its customers across Anambra State before.
However, with the current reduction in national power generation occasioned by gas shortage, the average daily allocation to these interface stations in Anambra State is as follows:
Awada = 40.45 MW
GCM = 12.65 MW
Agu Awka = 11.20 MW
Nibo = 9.82 MW.
Total average daily allocation presently = 74.13 MW, as against the 164.66 MW it used to be.
This represents a shortfall of about 90.53 megawatts, meaning more than half of the electricity previously being supplied to the state is currently unavailable/no longer getting to it. Other distribution companies in other states and regions also experienced such significant drop.
Naturally, this drastic reduction makes it impossible for the distribution companies (including FirstPower) to maintain the same level of supply that customers previously enjoyed when generation was optimal. This is primarily the reason for the dropped supply and outages being experienced in Anambra State today.
4. Why Load Management (Rationing) Has Become Necessary
Because the available electricity is far below demand, FirstPower has had to implement load management across feeders in the state. This means that electricity is carefully rationed across different communities and feeders periodically to ensure that at least some supply reaches most areas within available capacity. Under this arrangement, some feeders receive supply during the morning hours, some during the afternoon, and some others during the night. This rationing time is usually adjusted and interchanged to ensure equitable distribution across the state, prevent vandalism and/or infrastructural collapse, as well as avoid overloading transformers and distribution infrastructure. Without this controlled load management initiated by FirstPower, the system could experience a total shutdown which will affect the entire state simultaneously.
5. Metering and Efforts to Address Estimated Billing
FirstPower acknowledges that metering remains a major concern for customers, particularly those currently on estimated billing. Currently, meter penetration in Anambra stands at about 40–45%. This leaves a gap of roughly 55–60% of customers yet to be metered in the state.
To address metering gaps nationally and eliminate estimated billing, the Federal Government floated the National Mass Metering Programme (NMMP), funded by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to provide prepaid meters free of charge to customers through DisCos.
Under this Federal Government metering programme, 13,000 meters were allocated to Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC), the southeast regional distribution network. From that allocation, 5,960 meters were received by FirstPower and distributed to customers across the state, specifically those within Awka, Obosi, and Onitsha feeders.
Our regional distribution network, EEDC is also expecting about 179,000 additional meters under the Federal Government NMMP initiative, out of which about 90,000 meters are expected to be allocated to FirstPower for its customers.
While we await that, we also do the much we can to ensure meter availability for interested customers in Anambra State. We started by setting up a functional meter lab in Onitsha. Previously the meter lab serving Anambra used to be in Enugu State, where it was also being controlled from.
However, following the licencing of FirstPower DisCo, one of the first steps the company took was to set up a functional meter lab in Anambra, to ensure closeness to the people, which was also part of the reasons for decentralizing the system. The Onitsha metre lab has the capacity to produce an average of 2,500 meters daily.
Presently, FirstPower has over 5,000 prepaid meters in stock available for immediate purchase by customers. For customers who wish to be metered immediately, the meter prices are: single phase — ₦132,000; three phase — ₦220,000. For industrial customers, the company also has over 200 Maximum Demand (MD) meters available for manufacturing and large-scale electricity users.
Customers who want to purchase prepaid metre can apply, get their demand note, and make their payment; and their meter will be processed and installed for them within or before the next 10 working days after payment.
Importantly, customers also should be informed that any money paid for meter purchase is refunded over 36 months through energy credits.
6. Addressing Billing Concerns
Concerning why high consumptions are also recorded in the transformer even whenever there is drop in duration of supply, whenever power supply becomes irregular, households often rush to switch-on many appliances simultaneously whenever electricity returns, which can lead to rapid/immediate consumption and higher recorded usage, which reflect on the bill.
Additionally, energy theft, illegal connections, and meter bypass also increase the energy recorded at transformer level, which ultimately affects billing for paying customers.
Customers are encouraged to report energy theft and illegal connections, as these practices negatively affect entire communities. When a customer sees their neighbour indulging in energy theft, illegal connection, meter bypass and other such illegalities, they should report immediately through our whistleblowing phone number: 08161652465, for necessary actions.
This revelation and candid advice are necessary, because those energies being stolen are recording on the DSS meter in the people’s transformer. And at the end of the month, the entire consumption recorded there will be calculated (including the ones stolen through illegal connection and meter bypass). Thereafter, the bill will be shared among all the bill-paying customers in that area, who are connected to that transformer; hence the possibility of the bill being high.
7. Commitment to Transparency and Customer Protection
FirstPower remains committed to transparency, fair billing practices, regulatory compliance, and continuous customer engagement. Where service levels fall below approved standards and overbilling is established, appropriate adjustments, refunds, or credits are usually applied in accordance with regulatory guidelines. These adjustments, which sometimes reflect on the customers’ bill with the refunded amount (usually with subtraction – sign) may appear as reduced arrears for postpaid customers, or as energy credits/additional units for prepaid customers, or even in form of supply compensation.
8. On the Planned Protests
We are aware of reports indicating that some customers are planning protests over the current electricity situation. FirstPower, as a company, understands respects the constitutional rights of citizens to peaceful expression and public demonstration. However, we wish to respectfully appeal to the public to understand that, as comprehensively explained, the present electricity shortage is fundamentally a national generation challenge, not a problem created by FirstPower or EEDC, neither is it a challenge specific to Anambra State.
Such protests directed at the distribution company in the state may therefore not achieve the intended outcome, because the key constraints currently lie at the generation and gas supply stages of the electricity value chain, which are beyond the operational control of FirstPower.
Moreso, several other states that have experienced similar protests continue to face the same generation constraints, because the issue originates upstream in the national power system.
9. Appeal for Patience
We sincerely appreciate the resilience, patience, and understanding of our customers across Anambra State. Stakeholders across the power sector, including generation companies, gas suppliers, grid operators, regulators, and government authorities, are actively working to resolve the underlying challenges affecting electricity generation nationwide.
As generation improves and allocations increase, electricity supply to Anambra will correspondingly improve.
FirstPower remains fully committed to delivering the best possible service with the electricity available to us and will continue to keep the public informed.
Signed:
Izunna Okafor
Head Communications
FirstPower Electricity Distribution Company Limited
