Discos Charge Customers N255bn But Recover N210bn In October – NERC

Electricity distribution companies nationwide billed customers a total of N255.19bn for power supplied in October 2025 but recovered only N210.92bn, resulting in substantial losses from unbilled energy and unpaid bills that continue to weigh on the power sector’s liquidity.

The figures were contained in the latest commercial performance factsheet issued by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission.

According to the report, the 11 distribution companies received electricity valued at N303.85bn from the national grid in October, an 8.73 per cent increase from September. However, the value of energy billed declined by 5.65 per cent to N255.19bn, indicating that not all power received was converted into billable revenue.

This created a shortfall of N48.66bn, representing electricity delivered but not billed to customers during the month. Consequently, industry-wide billing efficiency fell to 83.99 per cent, down 2.45 percentage points from September, meaning more than 16 per cent of energy supplied to DisCos was not captured in customer bills.

Despite the drop in billing efficiency, revenue collection improved. Total collections rose by 7.48 per cent month-on-month to N210.92bn, pushing collection efficiency up to 82.66 per cent from 81.26 per cent in September. The commission noted that cases where collection efficiency exceeded 100 per cent were largely driven by the recovery of outstanding debts from previous months.

Nevertheless, significant revenue gaps persisted. Of the N255.19bn billed in October, DisCos failed to collect N44.27bn, adding to losses from unbilled energy. Combined, these weaknesses resulted in a recovery efficiency of 82.49 per cent, reflecting the proportion of allowed revenue actually realised by operators.

NERC’s data showed that while the allowed average tariff for the month stood at N116.25 per kilowatt-hour, the actual average collection dropped to about N95.85/kWh, a 1.23 per cent decline from September. This growing disparity between approved tariffs and realised revenue continues to strain cash flows across the electricity value chain, affecting remittances to the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc and other market participants.

Performance varied widely among the DisCos. Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company recorded the strongest results, billing N41.26bn out of N43.72bn worth of energy received, for a billing efficiency of 94.36 per cent. It collected N42.11bn, surpassing its billings and lifting collection efficiency to 102.07 per cent, while recovery efficiency reached 108.17 per cent.

Eko DisCo also ranked among the top performers, despite a slight decline in billing efficiency to 95.71 per cent after billing N40.29bn of the N42.10bn received. It collected N37.67bn, translating to 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 but billed N38.93bn, resulting in a billing efficiency of 84.05 per cent, a sharp drop from the previous month. It collected N34.39bn, posting a collection efficiency of 88.35 per cent, with recovery efficiency at 88.30 per cent.

Port Harcourt DisCo billed 80.32 per cent of the energy it received, slightly below September’s level, but improved its collection efficiency to 87.07 per cent, lifting recovery efficiency to 82.97 per cent.

Several northern DisCos continued to record weak commercial performance. Jos DisCo posted the poorest results, collecting just N5.26bn out of N13.50bn billed, leaving collection efficiency at 38.98 per cent and recovery efficiency at 42.28 per cent, despite a marginal improvement in billing. Kaduna DisCo improved its billing efficiency to 84.62 per cent but collected only 43.03 per cent of billed revenue, with recovery efficiency at 43.70 per cent.

Enugu DisCo saw a decline in billing performance, billing N20.95bn out of N26.11bn received for a billing efficiency of 80.23 per cent. Collection efficiency improved to 80.74 per cent, although recovery efficiency slipped to 77.67 per cent.

Ibadan DisCo recorded one of the strongest gains in collections. While billing efficiency edged down to 73.51 per cent, collection efficiency jumped to 84.49 per cent, with N22.56bn recovered. Recovery efficiency rose to 74.16 per cent.

Benin, Yola, and Kano DisCos remained in the mid-range for recovery performance. Benin DisCo billed N19.84bn out of N30.38bn received, leaving billing efficiency at 65.32 per cent, while recovery efficiency stood at 65.16 per cent. Kano DisCo achieved a high billing efficiency of 98.05 per cent but collected only 58.67 per cent of its billings, resulting in a recovery efficiency of 68.65 per cent. Yola DisCo recorded billing efficiency of 66.03 per cent and collection efficiency of 69.35 per cent.

The October results come amid ongoing regulatory and structural reforms aimed at strengthening the financial sustainability of Nigeria’s power sector. NERC has repeatedly emphasised the need for improved metering, reduced energy theft, and stricter enforcement of commercial performance benchmarks.

Despite recent tariff adjustments and reforms under the amended Electricity Act, the data indicate that persistent challenges in energy accounting, customer enumeration, and revenue protection continue to drain billions of naira from the sector each month, raising concerns about the long-term stability of the electricity market.