…Remit N414.26Bn, Install 187,194 Meters in Q1 – Report
…Consumers filed 254,000 complaints against DisCos
By Cyril Ogar
Nigeria’s electricity distribution companies ,DisCos,suffered a staggering revenue loss of N190.64bn in the first quarter of 2025, according to the 2025 1st quarter report released by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission ,NERC.
Despite receiving a total of 8,169.00 gigawatt-hours ,GWh, of energy from the national grid in Q1, the DisCos were only able to bill 6,631.92 GWh to end-use customers, reflecting a billing efficiency of 81.18%.
This marks a decline of 2.48 percentage points from the 83.66% recorded in the fourth quarter of 2024.
Of the N744.27bn worth of electricity billed to customers in Q1, only N553.63bn was recovered, representing a collection efficiency of 74.39%, another drop from the previous quarter’s 77.44%.
NERC identified two major culprits for the dismal financial showing: billing losses arising from technical and commercial inefficiencies, and collection losses due to the failure of DisCos to recover billed revenues.
According to the report, the average Aggregate Technical, Commercial and Collection ,ATC&C, loss across the 11 DisCos stood at 39.61%, far exceeding the 20.54% target set under the 2025 Multi-Year Tariff Order ,MYTO.
The ATC&C loss, comprising 18.82 percent technical and commercial loss and 25.61% collection loss, led to a cumulative revenue shortfall of N200.495bn in the quarter.
Kaduna Electric posted the worst ATC&C performance, recording a dismal 68.57 percent loss against a target of 21.3%.
During the period under review, the DisCos collectively remitted N414.26bn out of a N432.13bn from the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading ,NBET, company and the Market Operator ,MO, translating to a remittance performance of 95.86%, up from 92.68% in Q4 2024.
In contrast, international bilateral customers significantly underperformed, remitting only $5.80m ,33.7%, of the $17.24m invoiced by the MO, while the domestic bilateral customers paid N1.86bn out of N2.57bn, achieving a remittance rate of 72.24%.
Meanwhile, the sector saw marginal improvement in metering during the period. A total of 187,194 meters were installed in Q1 2025, a 0.41% increase from Q4 2024. Of these, 79.44% were installed under the Meter Asset Provider ,MAP, scheme, with others delivered under various funding frameworks, including the Meter Acquisition Fund ,MAF, and DisCo/Vendor-financed schemes.
This pushed the national metering rate slightly upward by 0.41 percentage points from 46.57% in Q4 2024 to 46.98% in Q1 2025.
meanwhile, Electricity Distribution Companies ,DisCos, operating in Nigeria collectively remitted a total sum of N414.26 billion to the electricity market in the first quarter of 2025.
They also installed a total of 187,194 meters in the same period, representing an increase of 0.41% compared to the 186,431 meters installed in 2024/Q4.
These figures were contained in the Quarterly Report of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission ,NERC, released on Wednesday.
According to the report, in 2025/Q1, the cumulative upstream invoice payable by DisCos was N432.13 billion, consisting of N370.37 billion for DRO-adjusted generation costs from NBET6 and N61.76 billion for transmission and administrative services by the Market Operator ,MO.
Out of this amount, the report said, the DisCos collectively remitted a total sum of N414.26 billion ,N354.77 billion for NBET and N59.49 billion for MO, with an outstanding balance of N17.87 billion. Which translated to a remittance performance of 95.86% in 2025/Q1 compared to the 92.68% recorded in 2024/Q4.
The report, while noting an increase in market remittance, revealed a decrease in the collection efficiency of the DisCos.
It said the total revenue collected by all DisCos in 2025/Q1 was N553.63 billion out of N744.27 billion billed to customers. Which translated to a collection efficiency of 74.39%, representing a decrease of 3.05pp compared to 2024/Q4 ,77.44%.
During the period, the weighted Aggregate Technical, Commercial and Collection ,ATC&C, Loss across all the DisCos in 2025/Q1 was 39.61%, comprising technical and commercial loss (18.82%) and collection loss (25.61%).
The ATC&C loss of 39.61% was 19.07pp higher than the 2025 MYTO target (20.54%) and translated to a cumulative revenue loss of ₦200.495 billion across all DisCos. The ATC&C loss increased by 4.39pp (worse performance) compared to 2024/Q4 (35.22%).
The report said all the DisCos failed to achieve their target ATC&C during the quarter, with Kaduna DisCo recording the worst underperformance relative to the target ATC&C ,Actual – 68.57% vs. target – 21.32%.
The report also revealed in 2025/Q1, the six (6) international bilateral customers purchasing power from the grid-connected GenCos made a cumulative payment of $5.80 million against the $17.24 million invoice issued to them by the MO or services rendered in 2025/Q1 (remittance rate – 33.70%).
Similarly, it said the domestic bilateral customers made a cumulative payment of N1,857.67 million against the N2,571.43 million invoice issued to them by the MO for services rendered in 2025/Q17 ,remittance rate – 72.24%.
The report said a total of 187,194 meters were installed in 2025/Q1, representing an increase of 0.41% compared to the 186,431 meters installed in 2024/Q4.
The new installations, according to the report, increased the net end-user metering rate across all the DisCos by 0.41pp from 46.57% (2024/Q4) to 46.98% (2025/Q1).
It said during the quarter, 148,713 meters (79.44% of the total installations) were installed under the MAP framework, 36,787 meters were installed under the Meter Acquisition Fund ,MAF, 1,074 meters were installed under the DisCo Financed framework, and 620 meters were installed under the Vendor Financed framework.
The report disclosed across the quarter, DisCos only successfully resolved 1,554 out of the 4,169 complaints that were filed at the NERC-CCU; which translated to a resolution rate of 37.27%. The number of complaints received across all DisCo-CCUs was 254,404, which represents a 7.72% decrease compared to the 275,681 received in 2024/Q4.
Report further revealed that as in previous quarters, metering, billing and service interruption were the prevalent issues of customer complaints during the quarter.
On Health & Safety, the report said the total number of accidents in 2025/Q1 was thirty-one ,31, which resulted in fourteen (14) injuries and twelve (12)9 fatalities. Noting that the Commission has launched investigations into all the accidents and will continue to work with all sector stakeholders to improve the overall health and safety of the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry ,NESI.
The Commission, according to the report, issued forty (40) Orders, fifty-five (55) licences, permits and certifications in 2025/Q1
In a related development, the Nigeria’s electricity consumers filed a total of 254,404 complaints against Distribution Companies ,DisCos, in the first quarter (Q1) of 2025, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission ,NERC, has disclosed.
NERC in its first quarter report, which covers January to March, said the figure marks a 7.72% decline from the 275,681 complaints recorded in the previous quarter ,Q4 2024.
However, metering issues, billing discrepancies, and persistent service interruptions continued to dominate customer grievances across the board.
However, data from NERC’s Central Customer Service Unit ,CCU, reveals that out of the 4,169 complaints escalated to the Commission, DisCos had managed to resolve only 1,554 cases, reflecting a resolution rate of just 37.27%, a figure that underscores ongoing inefficiencies in customer service delivery.
“Across the quarter, DisCos successfully resolved only 1,554 out of the 4,169 complaints filed at the NERC-CCU, translating to a resolution rate of 37.27%.
“The number of complaints received across all DisCo-CCUs was 254,404, which represents a 7.72% decrease compared to the 275,681 received in 2024/Q4.
“As in previous quarters, metering, billing and service interruption were the prevalent issues of customer complaints during the quarter”, the report reads in part.
Meanwhile, on the supply side, the industry recorded an uptick in electricity generation.
According to the report, the average hourly generation on the national grid stood at 4,770.59MWh/MWh/h, culminating in a total output of 10,304.47GWh for the quarter.
This represents a 10.92% increase from the 9,289.95GWh generated in Q4 2024.
NERC attributed the improved power generation to a rise in available generation capacity and increased energy offtake by grid-connected customers, including the DisCos.
The Commission stated that the average hourly generation from grid-connected power plants also rose by 563.18MWh/h, a 13.39 per cent jump from the Q4 2024 average of 4,207.41MWh.
