Metering Rate Rises to 58.57% as DisCos Add 241,590 Customers In 2 Months

Nigeria’s electricity metering rate rose to 58.57 per cent in February 2026 after distribution companies (DisCos) installed 241,590 meters across January and February, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), said on Thursday.

NERC said in a factsheet released on Thursday that 119,792 customers were metered in January and a further 121,798 in February, taking the total number of metered accounts across the 11 distribution companies to about 7.21 million.

It added that active electricity customers rose from roughly 12.23 million in January to about 12.31 million in February.

The report however indicated that the two‑month additions produced a 0.64 percentage‑point increase in the national metering rate, from 57.93 per cent in January to 58.57 per cent in February.

On regional performance, NERC said Eko Electricity Distribution Company remained the top performer, with a metering rate of 87.62 per cent in February, while Ikeja Electric was close behind at 87.16 per cent. It said Abuja DisCo improved to 79.37 per cent and Port Harcourt DisCo rose to 66.36 per cent.

The Factsheet showed that Benin DisCo recorded the highest number of new meter installations in February with 25,658, followed by Abuja with 18,352 and Ibadan with 16,445. By contrast, it said Kano DisCo metered only 149 customers in February and Enugu DisCo added 691 customers, reflecting wide disparities in rollout pace.

NERC said some distribution companies were still well below the national average, citing Yola with the lowest metering rate of 31.86 per cent despite adding 5,273 customers in February. It added that Jos, Kaduna and Kano remained in the mid‑30s for metering coverage.

On customer footprint, the commission said Ibadan DisCo remained the largest by active customers, with about 2.48 million accounts and roughly 1.30 million metered customers as of February.

Inadequate metering continues to drive disputes over estimated billing and to undermine consumer confidence, and that improving metering coverage was important for better revenue collection and service planning.

The commission has been pressuring distribution companies to accelerate meter rollout through intervention schemes and stronger monitoring.