Uche Cecil Izuora
The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has revealed that total number of active customers nationwide increased from 11.89 million in July to 11.96 million in August 2025.
The Commission, which made this disclosure through a statement issued on its official X and Instagram handles on Monday, said this was the latest Metering Factsheet for July and August 2025.
According to NERC, Eko, Ikeja, and Abuja DisCos were ranked among the top performers in metering coverage nationwide.
While Eko DisCo recorded a metering rate of 84.25 per cent, Ikeja DisCo 84.83 per cent, while Abuja DisCo stood at 73.92 per cent.
INEC April, NERC penalised eight DisCos – including Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC), Ikeja Electric (IKEDC), Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC), Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC), Jos Electricity Distribution Company (JEDC), Kaduna Electric, Kano Electricity Distribution Company (KEDCO), and Yola Electricity Distribution Company (YEDC) – for failing to adhere to the monthly energy caps imposed on estimated billing for unmetered customers.
The Commission imposed a combined fine of over ₦628 million on the eight DisCos. In addition to the monetary penalties, NERC directed each company to provide credit adjustments to all affected customers.
Earlier, NERC reported that DisCos installed a total of 225,631 meters in the second quarter of 2025, marking a 20.55% increase compared to the 187,161 meters installed in the first quarter of the year.
According to NERC’s Q2 2025 report, of the total meters installed, 147,823 units (65.52%) were deployed under the Meter Asset Provider (MAP) framework, 65,315 meters under the Meter Acquisition Fund (MAF) scheme, 12,259 meters through the Vendor Financed framework, and 234 meters were installed under the DisCo Financed scheme.
The NERC, added in the statement that the updated active consumers’ data spreads across all 11 electricity distribution companies in the country
“Out of these, 6.58 million customers were metered, resulting in a metering rate of 55.01 per cent, up slightly from 54.71 per cent, in July.
A total of 70,888 customers were newly metered in August, compared to 76,783 in July, reflecting ongoing metering efforts across the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI),” it stated.
The improved metering figures reflect ongoing reforms and investments in customer management by DisCos, aimed at enhancing billing transparency and consumer trust, the Commission said.
The report reveals that, despite an average available generating capacity of 5,395.72 MW from the 28 grid-connected power plants installed, the actual output averaged 4,501.06 MWh per hour, resulting in a total of 9,830.31 GWh for the quarter. These consistent shortfalls highlight persistent operational challenges, such as gas supply constraints, maintenance downtime, and transmission bottlenecks, which continue to limit the sector’s ability to utilise installed capacity fully.
Of the total 7,824.43 GWh of energy received by DisCos in Q2 2025, only 6,449.82 GWh was billed to end-users. This shortfall represents an energy efficiency of 82.4 per cent.
These losses significantly impact revenue recovery and exacerbate liquidity challenges across the electricity value chain.
For instance, the total energy offtake by all DisCos in Q2 2025 amounted to N909.6bn, of which N742.3bn was billed to end-users, reflecting a billing efficiency of c.81.6 per cent.
Consequently, the DisCos collected N564.7bn in revenue out of the N742.3bn billed to customers, highlighting the persistent liquidity strain across the power sector.
The weighted aggregate technical, commercial & collection (ATC&C) loss stood at 37.9 per cent during the quarter, largely driven by DisCos’ inability to fully bill customers due to the nation’s substantial metering gap.
Structural revenue leakages arising from poor metering and billing inefficiencies forced government subsidies of approximately NGN514.4bn in Q2.
Cumulatively, subsidy obligations over the first half of 2025 amounted to N1.1trn, highlighting the sector’s continued reliance on fiscal support.
In a bid to improve liquidity, the Federal Government has agreed on a framework to settle N4trn in legacy debt, covering verified arrears owed to GenCos and gas suppliers.
The government plans to tap the domestic debt market by issuing long-term bonds to convert cash liabilities into structured repayments.
While this positive development is welcomed, DisCos must also address the huge metering gap.
Additionally, coordinated efforts by stakeholders are required to expand renewable energy adoption, implement cost-reflective tariffs across customer bands, and modernise the transmission grid infrastructure.