Energy Billing Gap Persists as DisCos Collect N196bn In March

Nigeria’s electricity distribution companies (DisCos) collected bills totalling N196.13 billion in March 2026, but a persistent gap between energy received and energy billed continues to undermine sector revenues.
The March 2026 Commercial Performance Factsheet released by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), on its X handle on Tuesday showed modest month-on-month improvement in recovery efficiency.

According to the factsheet, “Billing efficiency for March stood at 83.89 per cent,” the said, “with DisCos billing N246.43 billion of the N293.76 billion in energy received.”

The difference, industry observers note, reflects ongoing challenges in metering, accurate customer data and commercial losses across several networks.

Collection efficiency for the month was recorded at 79.59 per cent, as total revenue collection for March reached N196.13 billion,” as collection performance remained a key constraint.

The data also showed that industry’s overall Revenue Recovery Performance improved slightly, with Recovery Efficiency rising to 81.05 per cent—a gain of 0.38 percentage points compared with February 2026.
Ikeja, Eko and Benin DisCos led the recovery rankings in March. “Top performers were Ikeja (99.30 per cent), Eko (95.73 per cent) and Benin (85.18 per cent),” the report stated, underscoring the strong performance of urban networks relative to others.
Analysts say the numbers show progress but highlight the work remaining to close the billing and collection gaps. “The fact that nearly 17 per cent of energy received was not billed points to systemic issues,” one sector analyst commented. “Unless billing coverage and loss reduction improve, collections will continue to trail potential revenue.”