News Investigators/ The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) on Thursday disclosed that Electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos) collected a total revenue of N553.63 billion in the first quarter of 2025.
According to NERC’s 2025 First Quarter Report published on its website in Abuja, the amount was realised from a total billing of N744.27 billion issued to customers during the period.
The report noted that this represented a collection efficiency of 74.39 per cent, compared to 77.41 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2024, when DisCos collected N509.84 billion from a total billing of N658.40 billion.
“ Which translated to 77.44 per cent collection efficiency.
“The 74.39 per cent collection efficiency recorded in 2025/Q1 is 3.05 Percentage Point (PP) lower than the collection efficiency recorded in 2024/Q4 which represents 77.44 per cent, ‘’ it said..
The report said that four disCos recorded collection efficiencies up to 80 per cent with Eko DisCo recording the highest collection efficiency which accounted for 84.79 per cent of the collection.
“ Conversely, Jos DisCo recorded the lowest collection efficiency with 47.19 per cent.
“A comparison of disCos’ performance shows that Kano had +6.55pp Abuja +4.81pp) and Enugu +0.72pp), ‘’ it said.
According to the report, the three DisCos recorded improvements in collection efficiency between 2024/Q4 and 2025/Q1.
The report said that the remaining eight DisCos recorded declines in collection efficiency with Port Harcourt recording -15.11pp, Kaduna -7.12pp and Eko -5.21pp.
It added that these Discos had the most significant declines over the period.
The report also said that In 2025/Q1, billing and collection efficiencies declined by 2.47pp and 3.05pp respectively, compared to 2024/Q4.
“Based on historical trends, this decline inefficiencies can be attributed to the increased energy off take of +10.06 per cent during the quarter compared to 2024/Q4.
“It has been observed that there is an inverse relationship between DisCos’ energy off take and their billing/collection efficiencies.
“Typically, when DisCos off take more energy, they often allocate the incremental energy to areas where they record historically lower billing and collection efficiencies, ‘’ it said.
According to the report, the most proven methods to improve energy accounting and revenue recovery are accurate customer enumeration and the installation of end-use customer meters.
It said that the commission issued the Order on the operationalisation of Tranche A of the Meter Acquisition Fund (MAF) in 2024/Q2.
“ The Order, which became effective on 24 June 2024, directed DisCos to utilise the first tranche of disbursement from the MAF scheme to procure and install meters for unmetered Band A customers within their franchise areas.
“As of March 2025, DisCos have metered more than 41,000 Band A customers through the MAF scheme.
“In addition to the MAF, DisCos are expected to continue to utilise any of the metering frameworks provided for in the NERC, Meter Asset Programme (MAP).
“ And the National Mass Metering Programme (NMMP ) metering regulation (2021) to improve end-use customer metering in their franchise areas, ‘’it said.
The report added that these metering initiatives by NERC would reduce commercial and collection losses, thereby improving the flow of funds to upstream market participants in the Nigeria Electricity Supply Industry(NESI).
NAN
