Electricity users across Nigeria failed to pay over N54 billion in power bills for the month of February 2025, according to a report released by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).
The NERC February Factsheet showed that the 12 distribution companies (Discos) billed customers a total of N245.93 billion during the month but managed to collect only N191.75 billion, reflecting a collection efficiency of 77.9%. This represents a 6.56% improvement from the previous month.
The report also revealed that Discos received 2,583.19 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of energy and billed out 2,137 GWh to consumers, which translates to a billing efficiency of 82.73%—an increase of 1.81% compared to January.
Although the average allowed tariff stood at N116.18 per kilowatt-hour (kWh), the average revenue collected was N88.21/kWh, which equates to a 75.9% tariff recovery rate. This marked a 10.5% increase over January’s figures.
Among the Discos, Aba Power had the highest allowed tariff at N200.88/kWh but only recovered N127.58/kWh. It billed customers N6.44 billion but collected just N3.47 billion, recording the lowest collection efficiency at 53.9%.
On the other hand, Abuja Electricity Distribution Company posted the best performance, recovering N31.7 billion out of N35.67 billion billed, translating to an 89.03% collection efficiency. Eko Disco followed with 88.76%, collecting N36.6 billion from N41.24 billion in bills.
Other figures showed Enugu Disco collected N15.88 billion of N17.95 billion billed (88.47% efficiency), Ikeja Electric recovered N33.35 billion of N41.18 billion (81%), and Ibadan Disco, which serves seven states, collected N19.28 billion from N26.88 billion in bills (71.72%).
NERC continues to flag low revenue collection and commercial losses as major concerns for investors in the sector. The widespread lack of metering remains a persistent issue, with more than seven million customers still unmetered. This reliance on estimated billing frequently leads to disputes and undermines consumer trust.
The regulator recently sanctioned eight Discos for overbilling, a move aimed at curbing exploitation of unmetered customers and reinforcing billing transparency.
Meanwhile, the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) has reported better revenue performance among mini-grid operators. According to REA Managing Director, Abba Aliyu, the use of metering in mini-grid systems has helped achieve over 95% collection efficiency, offering a model for improving cost recovery in the broader electricity market.
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