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Nigeria’s Power Puzzle: Higher Bills, Mounting Losses, Unpaid Foreign Debts – NERC

Published

3 days ago

Mar 25, 2025.

National Grid Didn’t Collapse – TCN Explains Blackout

Nigerians Spend ₦509 Billion on Electricity in Three Months Amid Persistent Power Challenges
DisCos Report ₦139 Billion Loss, Metering Deficit Persists Despite Government Efforts
Benin and Togo Owe Nigeria $8.84 Million for Power Supplied in Q4

In the final three months of 2024, Nigerians paid a total of ₦509.84 billion for electricity, reflecting a moderate rise from the ₦466.69 billion spent during the preceding quarter, according to data from the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).

Despite increased revenue collection, power distribution companies (DisCos) recorded a cumulative loss of ₦139.08 billion, largely due to inefficiencies in billing and revenue recovery processes.

NERC’s fourth-quarter report for 2024 indicated that customers were billed ₦658.40 billion, up from ₦626.02 billion in the previous quarter.

While the nation grapples with ongoing power supply issues, the report highlighted that Benin Republic and Togo collectively owe Nigeria $8.84 million for electricity supplied during the fourth quarter.

The document further revealed that six international customers receiving electricity from Nigerian generation companies (GenCos) paid $5.21 million out of a total invoice of $14.05 million, amounting to a payment rate of 37.08 percent.

Revenue collected by DisCos rose from ₦466.69 billion in the third quarter to ₦509.84 billion in the fourth quarter, raising the nationwide collection efficiency rate to 77.44 percent, compared to 74.55 percent in the prior quarter.

Hike In Electricity Tariffs

Eko and Ikeja DisCos Lead in Revenue Collection Efficiency

Among the distribution companies, Eko DisCo achieved the highest collection efficiency at 90 percent, securing ₦96.58 billion from the ₦107.31 billion billed. Ikeja DisCo followed closely with an efficiency rate of 82.63 percent, collecting ₦101.92 billion out of ₦123.35 billion billed.

Other strong performers included Benin, Enugu, and Port Harcourt DisCos, which all exceeded a 75 percent collection rate.

Conversely, Jos DisCo performed the worst, recording a collection efficiency of just 49.68 percent after recovering only ₦14.25 billion of the ₦28.67 billion billed. Kaduna and Kano DisCos also struggled, with efficiency rates of 55.52 percent and 56.91 percent, respectively.

Yola DisCo, however, improved its efficiency from 49.31 percent in the third quarter to 63.24 percent in the fourth.

NERC reported that the sector’s overall Aggregate Technical, Commercial, and Collection (ATC&C) losses stood at 35.22 percent during the quarter, resulting in a revenue shortfall of ₦139.08 billion. Although this figure marks an improvement from the 39.1 percent loss in the previous quarter, it remains well above the Multi-Year Tariff Order (MYTO) target of 24.78 percent.

Kaduna DisCo had the highest ATC&C loss rate at 60.65 percent, far exceeding the regulatory benchmark of 25 percent.

Despite government interventions to accelerate metering, NERC’s report shows that by December 31, 2024, only 6.2 million customers—46.57 percent of the total 13.5 million registered—had been provided with meters.

In the fourth quarter, 185,439 meters were installed, reflecting a minor increase of 0.19 percent from the third quarter’s figures.

Ikeja, Ibadan, and Benin DisCos led in meter installations, accounting for 28.81 percent, 20 percent, and 12.62 percent of new meters, respectively. Most of these installations (96.56 percent) were conducted under the Meter Asset Provider (MAP) scheme, while the remaining meters were supplied through the Meter Acquisition Fund (MAF), Vendor Financing, and DisCo-financed initiatives.

Ikeja DisCo topped the MAP installations with 53,431 meters, followed by Ibadan with 37,089 and Benin with 23,397 units.

Domestic bilateral customers paid ₦1.25 million against the ₦1.98 million invoiced during the quarter, reflecting a remittance rate of 63.36 percent.

Additionally, some customers—including Paras-CEET, Paras-SBEE, and Transcorp-SBEE—made partial payments totaling $2.98 million to

ward outstanding balances from previous quarters.

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