DisCos Suffer N44bn Revenue Shortfall

Nigeria’s electricity distribution companies (DisCos) suffered a N44.27 billion revenue shortfall in October 2025, data from the latest Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) Commercial Performance Factsheet has shown.

NERC reported that DisCos received electricity valued at N303.85 billion from the national grid during the review period.

However, the regulator stated that DisCos billed customers only N255.19 billion, achieving an industry-wide billing efficiency of 83.9 per cent.
This left electricity worth N48.66 billion delivered but never billed, NERC explained.

On revenue collection, NERC noted even poorer results. The factsheet detailed that out of N255.19 billion billed, DisCos collected just N210.92 billion, creating the N44.27 billion gap.
NERC summarised the performance directly: “Energy billed and billing efficiency: N303.85 billion (total energy received) and N255.19 billion (total energy billed); billing efficiency: 83.9 per cent. Revenue collection and collection efficiency: total billing N255.19 billion, total revenue collected N210.92 billion.”

The regulator highlighted stark disparities among the 11 DisCos. NERC disclosed that Kano DisCo recorded the highest billing efficiency at 98.05 per cent, crediting strong customer enumeration and billing controls. Eko DisCo followed at 95.71 per cent, Ikeja DisCo at 94.36 per cent, reflecting solid operations in Lagos, according to the factsheet. Jos DisCo achieved 84.89 per cent, Kaduna 84.62 per cent, and Abuja 84.05 per cent—all above the national average, NERC stated.

In contrast, NERC pointed out underperformers: Enugu DisCo at 80.23 per cent, Port Harcourt at 80.32 per cent, Ibadan at 73.51 per cent, Yola at 66.03 per cent, and Benin DisCo at the bottom with 65.32 per cent. These gaps revealed uneven capacity across regions, the regulator emphasised.

NERC warned that such inefficiencies strain the entire electricity value chain.

The factsheet explained that when DisCos fail to collect fully, they cannot remit payments to the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Company (NBET) and generation companies (GenCos).
This deepens liquidity crises, reduces supply reliability, erodes investor confidence, and increases dependence on government subsidies, according to the regulator.

The commission has repeatedly urged improvements, linking better results to higher metering coverage—now at 56.07 per cent as of October 2025 via the National Mass Metering Programme (NMMP)—reductions in aggregate technical, commercial, and collection (ATC&C) losses, and stronger customer engagement.

NERC has affirmed that without stricter enforcement of performance targets and sanctions for underperformers, the sector’s financial health remained at grave risk.