Electricity distribution companies,across Nigeria billed customers ₦255.19 billion for electricity consumed in October 2025 but were only able to collect ₦210.92 billion, leaving the power sector with deepening revenue shortfalls, according to the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission.
In its latest commercial performance factsheet, NERC revealed that the 11 DisCos received electricity valued at ₦303.85 billion from the national grid during the month, an increase of 8.73 per cent compared to September.
However, the value of energy successfully billed dropped by 5.65 per cent to ₦255.19 billion, exposing persistent weaknesses in energy accounting and billing.
The data showed that electricity worth about ₦48.66 billion was supplied but never billed to customers in October.
As a result, industry-wide billing efficiency declined to 83.99 per cent, meaning that over 16 per cent of energy delivered to DisCos did not translate into customer bills.
“Despite receiving more energy from the grid, operators were unable to fully convert supply into billable revenue,” NERC noted, adding that the decline reflected ongoing challenges with metering gaps, energy theft, and customer enumeration.
While billing performance weakened, revenue collection showed modest improvement. Total collections rose by 7.48 per cent month-on-month to ₦210.92 billion, pushing collection efficiency up to 82.66 per cent. NERC explained that some DisCos recorded collection efficiencies above 100 per cent largely due to the recovery of outstanding debts from previous months.
However, the commission stressed that the overall picture remained troubling. Of the ₦255.19 billion billed in October, about ₦44.27 billion was not collected. Combined with losses from unbilled energy, this resulted in a recovery efficiency of 82.49 per cent, indicating that operators realised just over four-fifths of their allowed revenue.
The report also highlighted a growing gap between approved tariffs and actual revenue. While the allowed average tariff for October stood at ₦116.25 per kilowatt-hour, DisCos effectively collected an average of ₦95.85/kWh.
“This widening difference continues to exert liquidity pressure across the electricity value chain, affecting remittances to market participants, including NBET,” the regulator said.
Performance varied widely among the DisCos. Ikeja Electric emerged as the strongest performer, billing ₦41.26 billion out of ₦43.72 billion worth of energy received and collecting ₦42.11 billion.
Its collection efficiency exceeded 100 per cent, largely due to debt recovery, while recovery efficiency rose above 108 per cent.
Eko DisCo also posted strong results, billing over 95 per cent of energy received and achieving a recovery efficiency above 100 per cent, despite a slight dip in billing performance compared to September.
Abuja DisCo, however, saw a sharp decline in billing efficiency to 84.05 per cent after receiving electricity valued at ₦46.32 billion. Still, it recorded relatively strong collections, with recovery efficiency standing at 88.30 per cent.
In contrast, several northern DisCos continued to struggle. Jos DisCo recorded the weakest performance, collecting just ₦5.26 billion out of ₦13.50 billion billed, with collection efficiency falling below 40 per cent.
Kaduna DisCo improved its billing but continued to post weak collections, while Kano DisCo, despite high billing efficiency, collected less than 60 per cent of its invoices.
NERC said the October results underscore the urgency of reforms aimed at strengthening the sector’s financial sustainability.
“The commission has consistently emphasised the need for improved metering, reduction in energy theft, and stricter enforcement of commercial performance benchmarks,” it stated.
Despite recent tariff adjustments and reforms introduced under the amended Electricity Act, the regulator warned that unresolved issues in billing accuracy and revenue protection are still draining billions of naira from the sector each month, raising concerns about the long-term stability of Nigeria’s electricity market.
