Why does a gas shortage mean no light in my house?
This week the government blamed poor power supply on gas shortages and low water at dams. Here is how gas hundreds of kilometres away decides whether your fan turns, simply.
In 30 seconds
- Most of the electricity on Nigeria's grid is made by burning gas in thermal power stations.
- When less gas reaches those stations, they make less power. Hydro stations make less when rivers and dams are low.
- The grid operator then gives each DisCo a smaller share, and DisCos switch feeders off in turns.
- That is why supply can fall even when no power line has broken.
On Thursday the Ministry of Power and the grid operator, NISO, said supply had dropped in Lagos, Abuja, Ogun, Kwara and Oyo because power plants were short of gas and dams were low. Read the news story. But what does gas have to do with your light?
Where your electricity is made
Most of the power on Nigeria's national grid comes from thermal power stations. They burn natural gas to spin large turbines, much like a car engine burns petrol to turn its wheels. The rest comes mainly from hydro stations on dams, where falling water turns the turbines.
So the grid depends on two things arriving every day: gas through pipelines to the thermal plants, and water flowing into the dams.
What happens when gas runs short
A gas plant cannot store much fuel. If the pipeline delivers less gas today, the plant makes less electricity today. Gas can fall short when a pipeline is damaged or shut for repairs, when a gas processing plant is under maintenance, or when buyers and suppliers fall out over payment.
Hydro works the same way with water. When less water flows into a reservoir, operators release less through the turbines to keep the dam from running too low.
From the power station to your street
The grid operator, NISO, adds up what all the stations are producing and shares it out among the 11 DisCos. On Thursday afternoon the total was about 3,659 MW, Vanguard reported, down from almost 4,000 MW the day before.
Each DisCo then has less than its customers want. It cannot give everyone a little less, so it switches whole feeders off in turns. That is load shedding. Your street may get four hours instead of twelve, even though nothing has broken between the power station and your house.
Why it can take days to fix
Fixing a gas shortage often means repairing a pipeline, finishing maintenance at a gas plant or settling a payment dispute. None of these happens in an hour. Water levels change with the seasons. That is why officials often give no firm date for full supply to return.
What it means for you
When the government blames gas, the problem is usually upstream, not at your local transformer. Calling your DisCo will not bring more gas, but it is still worth reporting a fault on your own feeder, because local faults and grid shortages can happen at the same time. If you are on Band A and supply keeps falling well below 20 hours a day, keep a record. How tariff bands work and who runs each part of the power sector.
Words to know
- Thermal power station
- A plant that burns gas to spin turbines and make electricity.
- Hydro power station
- A plant on a dam that uses falling water to make electricity.
- Feeder
- The line that carries power from a DisCo substation to your street. Feeders are put in tariff bands.
- Load shedding
- Switching some feeders off in turns when there is not enough power for everyone.
Sources
- Nairametrics: FG blames gas shortages, low water inflows for blackouts (5 Nov 2026)
- Business Post: NISO blames gas constraints, low water inflows (5 Nov 2026)
- Vanguard: Power generation drops to 3,659MW (Nov 2026)
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