By Abubakar Yunusa
Nigeria’s electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos) left N669.49 billion in billed electricity charges uncollected from customers in 2025.
This is according to the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission’s (NERC) 2025 Annual Report.
The report stated that DisCos supplied electricity worth N3.68 trillion during the year but billed customers N2.99 trillion.
According to the regulator, of the amount billed, only N2.32 trillion was collected, representing a collection efficiency of 77.60%.
The figures mean DisCos failed to recover about N22.40 out of every N100 billed to electricity consumers during the year.
The regulator said the combination of billing and collection inefficiencies continued to weaken the financial liquidity of the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI), limiting its capacity to support new investments.
“The total billing to electricity consumers by the DisCos was N2,988.30 billion, but only N2,318.81 billion was collected, translating to a collection efficiency of 77.60%,” the regulator noted.
Despite the improvement in efficiency, the value of unpaid bills increased from N536.95 billion in 2024 to N669.49 billion in 2025, representing an increase of N132.54 billion, or 24.7%.
NERC said the N3.68 trillion worth of energy supplied translated to a gross billing efficiency of 81.14%, meaning electricity worth about N694.80 billion was supplied but not billed to customers.
NERC also reported that the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc (NBET) and Market Operator (MO) issued N1.72 trillion in gross invoices to DisCos in 2025 for energy costs and administrative services.
DisCos remitted N1.63 trillion, representing 94.80% of their obligations and leaving a market shortfall of N89.58 billion.
The regulator described the shortfall as an underpayment attributable to market participants.
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