Tunde Bakare
There seem to be no respite in the Electricity Distribution Sector Aggregate Technical, Commercial and Collection loss, which reportedly nosedived in the first quarter of 2025.
In the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI), ATC&C, represents the difference between electricity received by Distribution Companies (DisCos) and the revenue they collect from customers, encompassing technical, commercial, and collection losses. These losses impact the financial viability of DisCos and the overall efficiency of the power sector
The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) in its Q1, 2025, report, states that despite the improvement in remittance, the DisCos’ collection efficiency fell, signalling broader sector inefficiencies.
During the period in review, NERC said that the 11 DisCos remitted a total of N414.26bn to the electricity market in Q1 2025, representing a 95.86 per cent remittance performance — a slight rise from the 92.68 per cent recorded in the previous quarter.
Out of a cumulative invoice of N432.13bn from the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading company and the Market Operator, the DisCos paid N354.77bn to NBET and N59.49bn to the MO, leaving an outstanding N17.87bn.
According to NERC, “The total revenue collected in Q1 was N553.63bn out of N744.27bn billed to customers, translating to a 74.39 per cent collection efficiency, a 3.05 percentage point drop from Q4 2024.”
This drop contributed to a worsening Aggregate Technical, Commercial and Collection loss of 39.61 per cent, far above the 2025 Multi-Year Tariff Order benchmark of 20.54 per cent
“The loss, made up of technical/commercial (18.82 per cent) and collection (25.61 per cent) losses, resulted in N200.495bn in cumulative revenue loss,” the commission said. All 11 Discos failed to meet their individual loss targets, with Kaduna Electric posting the worst result at 68.57 per cent actual loss against a 21.32 per cent target.
The report also noted poor payment compliance from international customers. “Only $5.8m was paid by six international bilateral customers out of the $17.24m invoiced, resulting in a remittance rate of 33.70 per cent,” it said.
Domestic bilateral customers fared better, remitting N1.86bn out of N2.57bn invoiced, a 72.24 per cent remittance rate.
During the quarter, a total of 187,194 meters were installed, a 0.41 per cent increase from Q4 2024. This brought the national metering rate to 46.98 per cent.
The Meter Asset Provider scheme accounted for the bulk of installations, with 148,713 meters (79.44 per cent) rolled out under the framework.
Other installations included 36,787 meters under the Meter Acquisition Fund, 1,074 via DisCo-financed projects, and 620 from vendor-financed efforts.
Customer satisfaction remained a challenge, as DisCos resolved only 1,554 of the 4,169 complaints escalated to the NERC Consumer Complaints Unit, a 37.27 per cent resolution rate.
Across all DisCos CCUs, 254,404 complaints were received, down by 7.72 per cent from the previous quarter.
The leading sources of complaints were related to metering, billing, and service interruptions. On health and safety, the industry recorded 31 accidents, resulting in 14 injuries and 12 fatalities.
The NERC has opened investigations into the incidents and pledged tighter safety oversight.
In line with its mandate, NERC issued 40 regulatory orders and granted 55 licences, permits, and certifications during the quarter.
The report, which assessed grid performance, market remittance, metering, customer service, and safety, highlighted the Commission’s push for enhanced system coordination by the System Operator, despite some operational challenges.
“There was no incidence of system disturbance on the national grid in 2025/Q1,” the report stated, attributing the milestone to improved grid management practices.
However, while frequency and voltage readings stayed within stress tolerance bands, they still fell outside optimal operating thresholds, raising concerns. The Commission noted:
“In 2025/Q1, the average lower daily (49.28Hz) and upper daily (50.77Hz) system frequencies were outside the normal operating limits (49.75Hz – 50.25Hz) but within stress limits (48.75Hz – 51.25Hz). The average daily system voltage also fell outside the Grid Code-specified ranges,” it added.
The development follows years of persistent grid collapses, causing blackouts nationwide. In 2024, the grid collapsed 12 times. Despite the operational improvement on the grid, the report revealed that power distribution companies continued to underperform in several other areas.
The NERC assured that it would continue efforts to enforce compliance, improve service delivery, and hold operators accountable to strengthen Nigeria’s power supply ecosystem