Electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos) in Nigeria collected N208.15 billion from customers in May 2026, representing an increase of 2.23 per cent over the previous month, despite a decline in overall billing and revenue recovery efficiency, according to the latest Commercial Performance Factsheet released by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).
The report showed that the 11 DisCos received electricity worth N328.95 billion during the month, an increase of 8.58 per cent compared with April. However, only N252.87 billion worth of electricity was billed to customers, reflecting a marginal increase of 0.17 per cent.
As a result, the industry’s billing efficiency dropped to 76.87 per cent from the previous month, representing a decline of 6.45 percentage points. This means that nearly one-quarter of the energy supplied to customers was not billed.
Despite the weaker billing performance, revenue collection improved modestly. Total billings stood at N252.87 billion, while revenue collected rose to N208.15 billion, resulting in a collection efficiency of 82.32 per cent, up by 1.66 percentage points from April.
NERC’s data, however, showed that the sector continued to struggle with revenue recovery. While the average allowed tariff stood at N124.39 per kilowatt-hour, the actual average revenue collected was only N96.16 per kilowatt-hour, translating to an overall revenue recovery efficiency of 77.31 per cent, down by 4.80 percentage points from the previous month.
Among the DisCos, Ikeja Electric recorded the highest collection efficiency at 97.28 per cent after collecting N41.51 billion from billings of N42.67 billion. It also posted one of the strongest revenue recovery performances at 94.63 per cent.
Eko Electricity Distribution Company followed with a billing efficiency of 90.66 per cent and a revenue recovery efficiency of 91.54 per cent after collecting N34.59 billion from N40.52 billion billed.
Abuja Electricity Distribution Company maintained strong commercial performance, recording N35.94 billion in collections from billings of N42.16 billion. The utility posted a collection efficiency of 85.25 per cent and a revenue recovery efficiency of 84.84 per cent.
Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company also performed relatively well, collecting N17.57 billion from N21.06 billion billed, with a recovery efficiency of 81.46 per cent.
Benin Electricity Distribution Company generated N16.84 billion from billings of N18.97 billion, while Enugu Electricity Distribution Company collected N16.53 billion from N19.70 billion billed.
Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company, which billed customers N25.53 billion, recovered N22.33 billion, representing a collection efficiency of 87.48 per cent. However, its revenue recovery efficiency remained relatively low at 70.27 per cent.
At the lower end of the performance ranking, Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company posted the weakest billing efficiency at 58.64 per cent and a revenue recovery efficiency of only 39.75 per cent, the lowest among all DisCos.
Jos Electricity Distribution Company recorded a collection efficiency of 51.20 per cent and a recovery efficiency of 45.38 per cent, while Kano Electricity Distribution Company posted a collection efficiency of 51.04 per cent and a recovery efficiency of 49.80 per cent.
Yola Electricity Distribution Company billed N4.50 billion and collected N3.15 billion, translating to a collection efficiency of 70.15 per cent and a recovery efficiency of 66.35 per cent.
The report also showed wide disparities in billing efficiency across the industry. Eko Electricity Distribution Company led with 90.66 per cent, followed by Ikeja at 82.86 per cent, Abuja at 81.41 per cent and Port Harcourt at 80.15 per cent. Kaduna recorded the weakest billing efficiency, followed by Ibadan at 65.30 per cent and Yola at 66.16 per cent.
The latest figures show the persistent operational and commercial challenges facing Nigeria’s electricity distribution segment.
While improvements in revenue collection indicate stronger payment compliance by customers, declining billing and revenue recovery efficiencies suggest that significant volumes of electricity supplied are still either not billed or not fully monetised, limiting the financial sustainability of the power sector.
