The Bane of Nigerian Industries and Households: the Quality of Energy

— Unreliable electricity remains a significant challenge for residents and industries in Nigeria. This research analyzed energy data collected from forty STM32-based smart meters installed across six states in southwest Nigeria from October 2022 to March 2023. Approximately 600,000 one-minute interval readings were collected and filtered for outage gaps. Our analyses include voltage-level assessment, frequency checks against IEEE 1159 and EN 50160 standards, and evaluation of consumer energy usage patterns. We found widespread voltage issues, with over 30% of readings in certain areas dropping below 200 V, which pose a clear risk to equipment. Industrial customers with a poor power factor (