Despite a fresh installation of 187,194 meters in first quarter of 2025 alone, 53.02 per cent of registered electricity customers are still without meters, latest report from the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has shown.
This is as Distribution Companies (DisCos) resolved only 1,554 out of 4,169 complaints escalated to the NERC-CCU, yielding a resolution rate of 37.27 per cent .
This low resolution rate reflected ongoing challenges in customer service and dispute management within the sector.
Data from the NERC quarterly report for Q1 2025 indicated that a total of 187,194 electricity meters were installed across distribution companies (DisCos), marking a slight increase of 0.41 per cent from the 186,431 meters installed in the previous quarter (Q4 2024). This incremental installation raised the net end-user metering rate marginally by 0.41 percentage points, from 46.57 per cent in Q4 2024 to 46.98 per cent in Q1 2025.
Despite these efforts, 53.02 per cent of electricity customers remain unmetered, highlighting a persistent challenge in achieving full metering coverage.
The majority of new meters (79.44 per cent) were installed under the Meter Asset Provider (MAP) framework, with the remainder installed through Meter Acquisition Fund (MAF), DisCo-financed, and Vendor-financed schemes.
The commission however emphasised that to protect unmetered customers from potential billing exploitation, the regulatory commission continues to enforce monthly energy caps on feeders, limiting the maximum billable energy based on feeder-level energy receipts and metered consumption.
Customer Complaints: Low Resolution Rate Amid Declining Complaints Volume
Customer complaints filed with the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission’s Customer Care Unit (NERC-CCU) totaled 254,404 in Q1 2025, representing a 7.72 per cent decrease from 275,681 complaints in Q4 2024. The primary issues driving complaints remained metering, billing, and service interruptions.
Collection losses: 25.61%
This high loss rate translates to a staggering N200.495 billion revenue loss during the quarter. Kaduna DisCo recorded the worst performance, with an ATC&C loss of 68.57% against a target of 21.32%.
Market Remittance: Improved Payment Performance Amid Outstanding Balances
In Q1 2025, DisCos were invoiced a total of N432.13 billion for upstream costs, including generation and transmission services. They collectively remitted N414.26 billion, achieving a remittance rate of 95.86%, an improvement over the 92.68% remittance rate in Q4 2024. The outstanding balance stood at N17.87 billion.
Remittance by Special and Bilateral Customers
International bilateral customers paid $5.80 million against a $17.24 million invoice, a remittance rate of 33.70%.
Domestic bilateral customers paid N1,857.67 million against N2,571.43 million invoiced, achieving a remittance rate of 72.24%.
While there has been progress in meter installations and energy offtake, the Nigerian electricity distribution sector continues to grapple with significant challenges including over half of customers remaining unmetered, low complaint resolution rates, declining billing and collection efficiencies, and alarmingly high ATC&C losses. Improved operational efficiencies and customer service strategies remain critical to enhancing sector performance in the coming quarters.
