Nigeria’s electricity distribution companies (Discos) failed to recover more than N50 billion in customer payments in March 2026 despite collecting N196.13 billion from electricity consumers during the month, latest data from the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has shown.
The regulator’s commercial performance report revealed that the Discos billed customers a total of N246.43 billion but succeeded in collecting only 79.59 per cent of that amount, leaving an outstanding revenue gap of approximately N50.3 billion.
The report highlighted persistent collection and billing challenges across the electricity distribution segment, even as energy supplied to the companies increased during the period.
According to NERC, electricity delivered to the distribution companies was valued at N293.76 billion in March, representing a 6.02 per cent increase compared to February. However, the value of energy billed to consumers rose at a slower pace, increasing by just 1.71 per cent to N246.43 billion.
The disparity contributed to a decline in industry billing efficiency, which fell to 83.89 per cent from the previous month. Billing efficiency measures the proportion of energy received by the Discos that is successfully converted into customer bills.
The report also showed a slight deterioration in collection performance. Revenue collections fell marginally by 0.28 per cent compared to February, while collection efficiency declined by 1.58 percentage points to 79.59 per cent.
Despite the weaker collections, the sector recorded a modest improvement in revenue recovery. NERC stated that the average approved tariff across the industry stood at N124.30 per kilowatt-hour, while actual collections averaged N100.75 per kilowatt-hour.
As a result, revenue recovery efficiency improved to 81.05 per cent, indicating that the Discos were able to recover a slightly larger proportion of their approved revenue requirement compared to the previous month.
A breakdown of the performance of individual operators showed considerable differences among the 11 distribution companies.
Ikeja Electric emerged as the strongest performer in revenue collection. The utility billed N41.82 billion and collected N40.30 billion, achieving a collection efficiency of 96.38 per cent. It also recorded the highest revenue recovery efficiency at 99.30 per cent.
Eko Electricity Distribution Company maintained a strong performance, collecting N33.89 billion from total billings of N38.65 billion and posting a revenue recovery rate of 95.73 per cent.
Benin Disco also ranked among the top performers with a collection efficiency of 90.97 per cent and a revenue recovery rate of 85.18 per cent.
In billing efficiency, Eko Disco led the industry after successfully billing 92.30 per cent of the energy received during the month. Port Harcourt Disco followed with 90.36 per cent, while Ikeja Electric recorded 87.76 per cent.
Conversely, Kaduna Electric posted the weakest commercial performance. The company recovered only N4.66 billion from N12.10 billion billed to customers, translating to a collection efficiency of 38.54 per cent and a revenue recovery rate of 35.65 per cent.
Jos Disco also struggled, collecting N6.74 billion out of N11.63 billion billed, resulting in a collection efficiency of 57.94 per cent and a revenue recovery efficiency of 53.53 per cent.
Yola Disco recorded the lowest billing efficiency in the industry at 58.68 per cent, indicating significant gaps in converting energy received into billable consumption.
Other distribution companies posted varying levels of performance. Abuja Disco recorded a revenue recovery efficiency of 81.09 per cent, Enugu Disco achieved 81.79 per cent, Kano Disco posted 76.09 per cent, while Ibadan Disco recorded 71.65 per cent.
Industry stakeholders have repeatedly expressed concern over the sector’s weak revenue collection framework, arguing that poor recovery rates continue to constrain investments, limit network upgrades and deepen liquidity challenges across the electricity value chain.
The latest NERC figures underscore the ongoing struggle by distribution companies to improve operational efficiency and strengthen revenue collection, a development considered critical to the long-term sustainability of Nigeria’s power sector.
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