ELECTRICITY users across Nigeria failed to pay over ₦70.25 billion for power consumed in May 2025, according to the latest commercial performance report by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) sighted by News Point Nigeria, Tuesday.
Despite improvements in power supply and billing levels, the 12 electricity distribution companies (DisCos) only managed to collect ₦191.57 billion out of a total of ₦261.82 billion billed to consumers.
This represents a collection efficiency of 73.17%, marking a decline of 4.42 percentage points from April 2025.
The report revealed that total energy delivered to the DisCos rose by 5.8% in May to 2,774.49 gigawatt-hours (GWh). However, only 2,255.51 GWh was billed to customers, a billing efficiency of 81.29%, down from 83.30% the previous month.
Worryingly, revenue recovery also dropped sharply. While the allowed average electricity tariff stood at ₦116.25 per kilowatt-hour (kWh), the actual average revenue collected was only ₦82.05/kWh, resulting in a recovery efficiency of 70.58%, a 7.32 percentage point decline compared to April.
These performance metrics highlight the persistent challenge of under-recovery, which continues to undermine the financial viability of Nigeria’s power sector.
Among the 12 DisCos, Ikeja, Eko, and Benin emerged as the most efficient in terms of billing and collections:
Ikeja Electric posted the highest billing efficiency at 89.04%,
Eko DisCo led in recovery efficiency at 82.52%, followed by Ikeja at 81.55%.
At the bottom of the table were Jos and Yola DisCos, which recorded the worst sector performance:
Jos had the lowest collection efficiency at 35.55%,
Yola reported the lowest billing efficiency at 63.45%.
These disparities continue to raise concerns over regional inequities in power performance, as well as broader issues of customer metering, enforcement, and affordability.
Despite the slight increase in electricity supply, the sector continues to suffer from structural inefficiencies and high levels of unpaid bills posing a risk to power generation and infrastructure investments.
As analysts have pointed out, the mismatch between the tariff DisCos are allowed to charge and what they are actually able to collect remains a major constraint to financial sustainability in the electricity value chain.
