5.36m Electricity Customers Remain Unmetered, Says Regulator

The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission has disclosed that approximately 5.36 million electricity customers across the country remain unmetered, despite the distribution companies’ recent meter installations in the third quarter of 2025.

The commission stated this in its third-quarter report, which was posted on its website on Tuesday.

Additionally, power generation on the national grid decreased by 7.15 per cent in the third quarter (Q3) of 2025 compared to the second quarter (Q2) of the same year.

In its third quarter 2025 report, NERC stated that Electricity Distribution Companies installed 228,614 meters between July and September, representing a 0.73 per cent increase over the 226,959 meters deployed in the second quarter of the year.

The regulator said that as of the end of September 2025, only 6,661,564 out of a total 12,030,315 active registered customers had been metered, leaving roughly 5,368,751 customers — or just under half of the customer base — still on estimated billing.

According to the report, the bulk of the new meters installed during the period under review fell under the Meter Asset Provider framework, which accounted for 176,302 units, or 77.12 per cent of total installations.

It added that meters provided through vendor-financed arrangements, the Distribution Sector Recovery Programme, the Meter Acquisition Fund and DisCo-financed schemes made up the balance, reflecting a mix of funding channels deployed to tackle the metering deficit.

The commission explained that the continued high number of unmetered customers poses risks of overbilling and erodes consumer confidence in the sector.

It noted that although the latest figures show gradual progress, the current pace of meter rollout remains insufficient to close the gap within a reasonable timeframe without sustained investments and strict adherence to approved metering plans.

According to the report, during the quarter under review, 176,302 meters, representing 77.12 per cent of the total installations, were installed under the Meter Asset Provider framework.

The report also showed that Electricity Distribution Companies installed 228,614 meters in the third quarter of 2025.

In the Third Quarter report released on Tuesday, NERC stated that the average hourly output on the grid in Q3 2025 was 4,179.15 megawatt-hours (MWh) per hour, translating to a total generation of 9,227.57 gigawatt-hours (GWh).

According to the report, total generation decreased from 9,830.31 GWh recorded in Q2 to 9,227.57 GWh in Q3, representing a decline of 602.74 GWh.

“In total, twenty (20) plants recorded decreases in their average hourly generation across the quarters,” NERC said.

“Significant decreases in average hourly generation were recorded in Ihovbor_2 (-79.97MWh/h), Geregu_1 (-47.85MWh/h), Geregu_2 (-47.61MWh/h), Egbin_1 (-43.45MWh/h), Kainji_1 (-42.17MWh/h) and Sapele_2 (-26.55MWh/h) power plants.

“Conversely, increases in average hourly generation were recorded in Okpai_1 (+58.82MWh/h/h), Jebba_1 (+27.88MWh/h/h), Omoku_1 (+15.35MWh/h/h), and Dadin-Kowa_1 (+14.88MWh/h/h) power plants across the quarters (Table 2).

“Cumulatively, the average hourly generation of the five grid-connected hydro power plants decreased by 3.23MWh/h/h/h (-0.24%) in 2025/Q3 compared to 2025/Q2.

“This decrease is primarily driven by the -42.17MWh/h reduction in output from Kainji_1 (-9.57%). There were also negligible reductions in generation at Shiroro 1 (-0.71%) and Zungeru 1 (-0.62%).

“The cumulative average hourly generation from the grid-connected thermal plants also decreased by 318.68MWh/h (-10.14%) during the quarter, with seventeen (17) out of the twenty-three (23) thermal plants recording decreases in their average hourly generation.

“The largest contributors to this decrease are Ihovbor_2 (-79.97MWh/h), Geregu_1 (-47.85MWh/h), Geregu_2 (-47.61MWh/h) and Egbin_1 (-43.45MWh/h) power plants.”

NERC said the key drivers of the decline recorded during the period were mechanical outages and gas supply constraints affecting several grid-connected power plants.

Meanwhile, to shield unmetered customers from arbitrary charges, NERC said it has continued to enforce the capping of estimated billing through monthly energy caps for all feeders in each DisCo.  The commission explained that these caps set the maximum energy that may be billed to an unmetered customer in a given month, based on the gross energy received by the DisCo and the actual consumption of metered customers on the same feeder.

The regulator stated that the energy cap mechanism is designed to align the bills of unmetered customers with realistic consumption levels and prevent DisCos from exploiting the metering gap.

It added that the commission will sustain compliance monitoring and sanctions where necessary to ensure that operators strictly apply the approved caps and expedite metering of all customers.

NERC also reported that constraints in gas supply to power plants contributed to a 7.15 per cent drop in electricity generation on the national grid in the third quarter of 2025.

The commission noted that gas shortages, combined with mechanical faults at several gas-fired plants, limited the amount of energy that could be generated and transmitted to the grid during the period. According to the regulator, the lower output meant that less energy was available for distribution to consumers, worsening supply challenges across many parts of the country.

It noted that gas-fired plants constitute the backbone of Nigeria’s grid, and any disruption to gas supply quickly translates into reduced generation, increased load shedding and more frequent outages.

Despite the metering and generation challenges, NERC stated that DisCos billed a total of N706.61 billion to electricity consumers in Q3 2025 and successfully collected N570.25 billion, translating to a collection efficiency of 80.70%.

The commission noted that the collection rate represented an improvement of 4.63 percentage points over the 76.07% recorded in the second quarter, driven by tighter revenue assurance measures and improved billing among metered customers. However, the report pointed out that DisCos were still unable to collect about N136.36 billion of the amounts billed in the quarter, reflecting continuing liquidity pressure in the market.

NERC maintained that further improvements in metering, loss reduction and payment discipline will be critical to stabilising the sector and ensuring timely settlement of obligations to generation companies and gas suppliers.

The commission emphasised that closing the metering gap and addressing gas constraints remain crucial to enhancing service quality for electricity consumers.

It said that a combination of accelerated meter rollout, strict enforcement of estimated billing caps, strengthened gas contracts, and sustained investments in generation infrastructure will be required to reverse current deficits in supply and customer satisfaction.

NERC reiterated its commitment to consumer protection, transparency and financial sustainability in the NESI, saying that it will continue to deploy regulatory tools to compel compliance by operators.

The regulator also urged customers to support ongoing reforms by honouring their payment obligations, reporting violations promptly and cooperating with metering and network upgrade programmes in their respective franchise areas.