Discos’ Revenue Recovery Slips In May Amid N208.15bn Collection

Nigeria’s electricity distribution companies (DisCos) saw their revenue recovery slip to 77.31 per cent in May 2026, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) reported, even as the sector collected N208.15 billion from billed consumers.

The decline came against an allowed average tariff of N124.39/kWh, with DisCos actually collecting an average of N96.16/kWh and billing efficiency falling to 76.87 per cent.

According to the latest Commercial Performance factsheet released by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), on Tuesday, DisCos were only able to collect an actual average of N96.16/kWh, against an allowed average tariff of N124.39 per kilowatt-hour, representing a decline of 4.80 percentage points when compared to April 2026.

On energy billing, the sector recorded a Billing Efficiency of 76.87 per cent, down 6.45 percentage points month-on-month. Of the N328.95 billion worth of energy received by the DisCos — itself an 8.58 per cent increase from the previous month — only N252.87 billion was billed to customers, a marginal 0.17 per cent increase from April.

On the revenue side, however, the industry posted an improvement. Collection Efficiency rose to 82.32 per cent, up 1.66 percentage points from April, with the DisCos collecting a total of N208.15 billion out of N252.87 billion billed, a 2.23 per cent increase in revenue collected.

A breakdown of individual DisCo performance shows wide disparities across the 11 distribution companies.

Ikeja Disco recorded the highest Recovery Efficiency in the industry at 94.63 per cent, up 5.74 percentage points from April, supported by a Collection Efficiency of 97.28 per cent — the best in the sector.

Eko Disco followed with a Recovery Efficiency of 91.54 per cent, reflecting a drop of 10.55 percentage points from the previous month. Abuja Disco completed the top three with 84.84 per cent, despite a 4.93 percentage point decline.

At the other end of the scale, Kaduna Disco posted the weakest Recovery Efficiency in the sector at 39.75 per cent, followed by Kano (49.80 per cent) and Jos (45.38 per cent) — all three falling within NERC’s “red” category, denoting a Recovery Rate Performance (RRP) below 50 per cent.

On billing performance specifically, Eko Disco led with a Billing Efficiency of 90.66 per cent, while Ibadan Disco recorded the steepest decline in the category, dropping 23.26 percentage points to close the month at 65.30 per cent.

Tariff-wise, Yola Disco had the highest allowed average tariff at N127.00/kWh but managed an actual average collection of only N84.27/kWh, translating to a Recovery Efficiency of 66.35 per cent — one of the few DisCos to record a positive change (up 1.28 percentage points) during the month.

In total, the DisCos received N328.95 billion worth of energy in May, billed N252.87 billion, and collected N208.15 billion in revenue.

NERC’s classification system rates DisCos as “Green” for an RRP of 80 per cent and above, “Amber” for between 50 and 79 per cent, and “Red” for below 50 per cent — with Ikeja, Eko, Abuja, and Port Harcourt Discos falling into the green band for the month under review.

The figures form part of NERC’s continuous monitoring of DisCos’ commercial performance, which the Commission uses to assess billing accuracy, revenue collection, and the overall recovery of allowed tariffs across Nigeria’s power distribution value chain.