Nigerians spent N509.84 billion on electricity in the last quarter of 2024, marking a modest increase from N466.69 billion in the previous quarter, according to data from the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).
Despite this rise in revenue, distribution companies faced a combined loss of N139.08 billion due to inefficiencies in billing and revenue collection.
NERC’s fourth quarter report indicated that the sector billed customers a total of N658.40 billion, up from N626.02 billion in the third quarter.
Amid the ongoing domestic power crisis, the report also noted that the Benin Republic and Togo owed Nigeria a total of $8.84 million for electricity supplied during the last quarter.
Additionally, six international bilateral customers, served by Nigerian power generation companies (GenCos), paid a total of $5.21 million out of a $14 million bill.
The revenue collected by Distribution Companies (DisCos) increased from N466.69 billion in the third quarter to N509.84 billion in the fourth quarter, raising the national collection efficiency to 77.44%, up from 74.55% in the previous quarter.
Eko DisCo led the pack with a collection efficiency of 90%, having gathered N96.58 billion from a total of N107.31 billion billed. Ikeja DisCo followed closely with an efficiency of 82.63%, collecting N101.92 billion out of N123.35 billion billed. Benin, Enugu, and Port Harcourt DisCos also achieved efficiencies exceeding 75%, reflecting strong collection performance.
On the other hand, several DisCos faced challenges in revenue recovery. Jos DisCo had the lowest collection efficiency at 49.68%, managing to collect only N14.25 billion from N28.67 billion billed. Kaduna and Kano DisCos also struggled, with efficiencies of 55.52% and 56.91%, respectively.
Despite these difficulties, Yola DisCo showed improvement in its collection efficiency.
NERC reported that the aggregate technical, commercial, and collection (ATC&C) loss for all Distribution Companies (DisCos) was 35.22 percent during the period, resulting in a revenue loss of N139.08 billion.
Although this marks an improvement from the 39.1 percent loss seen in the third quarter, it still significantly exceeds the Multi-Year Tariff Order (MYTO) target of 24.78 percent.
Kaduna DisCo had the poorest performance in this area, with an ATC&C loss of 60.65 percent, far above the target of 25 percent.
Despite efforts by the Federal Government and NERC to enhance metering, the report indicates that as of December 31, 2024, only 6.2 million customers (46.57 percent) of the 13.5 million registered consumers had been metered.
During this period, a total of 185,439 meters were installed, reflecting a slight increase of 0.19 percent compared to the third quarter.
Ikeja, Ibadan, and Benin DisCos led in meter installations, contributing 28.81 percent, 20 percent, and 12.62 percent, respectively.
The majority of the meters installed—96.56 percent—were done so under the Meter Asset Provider (MAP) framework. A smaller portion was installed through the Meter Acquisition Fund (MAF), Vendor Financed, and DisCo Financed frameworks.
Ikeja DisCo topped the list for MAP installations, with 53,431 meters, followed by Ibadan with 37,089 meters and Benin with 23,397 meters.
