The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) says electricity distribution companies (DisCos) collected a total revenue of N553.63 billion in the first quarter (Q1) of 2025.
In its 2025 first quarter report on Thursday, NERC said the amount was realised from a total billing of N744.27 billion issued to customers within the period.
The commission said this represents a collection efficiency of 74.39 percent — a decline from the 77.44 percent recorded in the fourth quarter of 2024.
“The 74.39 per cent collection efficiency recorded in 2025/Q1 is 3.05 Percentage Point (PP) lower than the collection efficiency recorded in 2024/Q4 which represents 77.44 percent,” the report said.
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NERC said four DisCos recorded collection efficiencies of over 80 percent, with Eko DisCo leading at 84.79 percent.
“Conversely, Jos DisCo recorded the lowest collection efficiency with 47.19 percent,” the commission added.
NERC said a comparison of DisCos’ performance shows that only Kano (+6.55pp), Abuja (+4.81pp) and Enugu (+0.72pp) DisCos recorded improvements in collection efficiency between Q4 2024 and Q1 2025.
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“Conversely, the remaining eight (8) DisCos recorded declines in collection efficiency with Port Harcourt (-15.11pp), Kaduna (-7.12pp) and Eko (-5.21pp) DisCos having the most significant declines over the period,” the report added.
The commission further noted that billing and collection efficiencies fell by 2.47 and 3.05 percentage points, respectively, in Q1 2025 compared to the previous quarter.
“Based on historical trends, this decline inefficiencies can be attributed to the increased energy off take of +10.06 per cent during the quarter compared to 2024/Q4,” NERC said.
“It has been observed that there is an inverse relationship between DisCos’ energy off take and their billing/collection efficiencies.
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“Typically, when DisCos off take more energy, they often allocate the incremental energy to areas where they record historically lower billing and collection efficiencies.”
The report identified accurate customer enumeration and the installation of end-use meters as the most effective strategies for improving energy accounting and boosting revenue collection.
It added that the commission, in the second quarter of 2024, issued an order for the implementation of tranche A of the meter acquisition fund (MAF).
‘OVER 41,000 BAND A CUSTOMERS METERED’
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NERC said an order, which took effect on June 24, 2024, mandated DisCos to deploy the first tranche of funds from the Meter Acquisition Fund (MAF) scheme to purchase and install meters for unmetered Band A customers within their service areas.
The commission said that as of March 2025, over 41,000 Band A customers have been metered under the MAF scheme.
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“In addition to the MAF, DisCos are expected to continue to utilise any of the metering frameworks provided for in the NERC, Meter Asset Programme (MAP),” NERC said.
“And the National Mass Metering Programme (NMMP ) metering regulation (2021) to improve end-use customer metering in their franchise areas.”
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The report further said NERC’s metering initiatives are expected to minimise commercial and collection losses, which would, in turn, enhance the flow of revenue to upstream players in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI).
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