Electricity distribution companies across the country billed customers a total of N255.19bn for power supplied in October 2025, but collected N210.92bn, leading to combined losses from unbilled energy and unpaid bills that continue to strain the liquidity of the power sector.
This is according to the latest commercial performance factsheet released by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission.
The NERC report showed that the 11 DisCos received electricity worth N303.85bn from the national grid in October, representing an 8.73 per cent increase over September. However, they were unable to fully convert the energy received into billable revenue, as the value of energy billed declined by 5.65 per cent to N255.19bn.
This left a gap of N48.66bn attributable to electricity supplied but not billed to customers during the month. As a result, industry-wide billing efficiency dropped to 83.99 per cent, a 2.45 percentage-point decline from September, meaning that more than 16 per cent of power delivered to DisCos was never captured in customer bills.
Despite the setback in billing, revenue collection performance improved. Total collections rose by 7.48 per cent month-on-month to N210.92bn, lifting collection efficiency to 82.66 per cent, up 1.40 percentage points from September. NERC explained that instances where collection efficiency exceeded 100 per cent in some DisCos were largely due to the recovery of outstanding debts from previous months.
However, even with the improvement in collections, the sector continued to record significant shortfalls.
Of the N255.19bn billed in October, DisCos failed to collect N44.27bn, compounding the losses from unbilled energy. Taken together, the weaknesses in billing and collection translated into a recovery efficiency of 82.49 per cent, reflecting the proportion of allowed revenue that was actually realised by operators.
The commission’s data showed that while the allowed average tariff for October stood at N116.25 per kilowatt-hour, the actual average collection dropped to about N95.85/kWh, representing a 1.23 per cent decline from September. This widening gap between regulated tariffs and realised revenue continues to fuel liquidity pressures across the electricity value chain, affecting remittances to the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc and other market participants.
A breakdown of the October figures revealed sharp contrasts in performance across the DisCos. Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company delivered the strongest overall performance during the month.
It billed N41.26bn out of N43.72bn worth of energy received, achieving a billing efficiency of 94.36 per cent. The utility collected N42.11bn, exceeding its billings and pushing collection efficiency to 102.07 per cent, while recovery efficiency climbed to 108.17 per cent.
Eko DisCo also remained among the strongest performers, despite a slight deterioration in billing. It billed N40.29bn out of N42.10bn received, posting a billing efficiency of 95.71 per cent, though this was 3.33 percentage points lower than in September. It collected N37.67bn, resulting in a collection efficiency of 93.50 per cent and a recovery efficiency of 101.65 per cent.
Abuja DisCo received electricity valued at N46.32bn in October but billed only N38.93bn, translating to a billing efficiency of 84.05 per cent, a sharp 5.75 percentage-point decline from the previous month. Despite weaker billing, it posted a relatively strong collection efficiency of 88.35 per cent, collecting N34.39bn, while recovery efficiency stood at 88.30 per cent.
Port Harcourt DisCo billed 80.32 per cent of the energy it received, slightly lower than September’s performance. However, its collection efficiency improved to 87.07 per cent, and recovery efficiency rose to 82.97 per cent, placing it among the better-performing utilities in the southern region.
In contrast, several northern DisCos continued to struggle with deep commercial inefficiencies. Jos DisCo recorded the weakest overall performance in the market. Although its billing efficiency improved marginally to 84.89 per cent, it collected only N5.26bn out of N13.50bn billed. This left collection efficiency at just 38.98 per cent, down 18.19 percentage points, while recovery efficiency fell sharply to 42.28 per cent.
Kaduna DisCo posted a notable improvement in billing efficiency, which rose by 8.69 percentage points to 84.62 per cent. However, collections remained weak at 43.03 per cent, and recovery efficiency stood at 43.70 per cent, highlighting persistent commercial challenges.
Enugu DisCo recorded a deterioration in billing performance. Out of N26.11bn worth of energy received, it billed N20.95bn, resulting in a billing efficiency of 80.23 per cent, down 4.23 percentage points. Collection efficiency improved to 80.74 per cent, although recovery efficiency slipped to 77.67 per cent.
Ibadan DisCo showed one of the strongest improvements in collections. While billing efficiency declined slightly to 73.51 per cent, collection efficiency surged by 10.10 percentage points to 84.49 per cent, with N22.56bn collected. Recovery efficiency rose significantly to 74.16 per cent.
Benin, Yola, and Kano DisCos also remained in the amber zone for recovery performance. Benin DisCo billed only N19.84bn out of N30.38bn received, leaving billing efficiency at 65.32 per cent.
Its collection efficiency fell to 83.72 per cent, while recovery efficiency dropped to 65.16 per cent. Kano DisCo achieved one of the highest billing efficiencies at 98.05 per cent but collected just 58.67 per cent of its billings, with recovery efficiency at 68.65 per cent. Yola DisCo recorded billing efficiency of 66.03 per cent and a collection efficiency of 69.35 per cent, leaving overall performance fragile.
The October performance comes amid ongoing regulatory and structural reforms aimed at improving the financial sustainability of Nigeria’s power sector. NERC has repeatedly stressed the need for improved metering, reduction in energy theft, and stricter enforcement of commercial performance benchmarks.
Despite recent tariff adjustments and reforms under the amended Electricity Act, the latest data suggest that unresolved challenges in energy accounting, customer enumeration, and revenue protection continue to drain billions of naira monthly from the sector, raising concerns about the sustainability of ongoing reforms and the stability of the electricity market.
PUNCH.
