DisCos bill N250.79bn, collect N205.53bn in July

The latest commercial performance report by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has revealed that Nigeria’s electricity distribution companies billed N250.79 billion for electricity in July 2026 but collected only N205.53 billion.

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This was made known in the commission’s July 2026 factsheet published on Thursday. The fact sheet, reviewed by this newspaper, showed that the 11 DisCos received energy valued at N333.94 billion, meaning that only 75.10 per cent of the energy received was billed to customers.

NERC said billing efficiency declined by 1.14 percentage points from the previous month.

Despite the decline in billing efficiency, the report indicated that the DisCos recorded an improvement in revenue collection.

Their 81.95 per cent collection efficiency increased by 2.25 percentage points compared with June.

The companies collected N205.53 billion from total billings of N250.79 billion during the month.

Eko Disco records highest revenue recovery

The published data showed wide and significant variation in the commercial performance of the DisCos.

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Eko Electricity Distribution Company recorded the highest revenue recovery efficiency at 94.67 per cent, collecting an average of N133.29 per kilowatt-hour against an allowed average tariff of N140.80/kWh.

Port Harcourt DisCo followed with a recovery efficiency of 84.95 per cent, while Benin recorded 79.15 per cent.

At the other end of the data table, Kaduna DisCo recorded the lowest recovery efficiency at 39.71 per cent, followed by Jos at 46.27 per cent and Kano at 55.41 per cent.

Kano DisCo recorded the highest billing efficiency at 85.37 per cent, followed by Port Harcourt at 82.34 per cent and Eko at 78.63 per cent.

Yola DisCo recorded the lowest billing efficiency at 61.55 per cent, followed by Kaduna at 64.08 per cent and Jos at 68.51 per cent.

Abuja DisCo recorded 77.45 per cent billing efficiency, while Ikeja and Ibadan recorded 74.28 per cent and 70.52 per cent, respectively.

The figures indicate that while the distribution companies improved the proportion of billed revenue that they actually collected in July, a significant gap remained between the value of electricity received, billed and ultimately collected.

NERC said the percentage changes in the July figures were measured against the previous month’s performance in June 2026.

Over the years, a major challenge with electricity billing in Nigeria has been the arbitrary estimated billing of customers due to metering gaps.

A significant portion of registered electricity customers in Nigeria lack prepaid meters, forcing DisCos to rely on estimation rather than actual consumption. Similarly, poor power supply due to infrastructure problems and grid collapses continuously undermines sustainable electricity supply in the country.

When President Bola Tinubu appointed Nigeria’s current minister of power, Joseph Tegbe, in June, he pledged to prioritise execution over rhetoric, identifying power distribution, metering, transparency and sub-national participation as key areas of intervention.

“We must close the metering gap and ensure Nigerians can track performance through a transparent public dashboard. The sector must be properly structured, and the people deserve to see real improvement,” he said at the time.

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He also said sub-national governments would be encouraged to generate electricity to reduce pressure on the national grid.

“We will come with clear milestones. If results are not visible in three months, they won’t be in six,” he noted.

While significant efforts are underway to transform the country’s power sector, a stable electricity supply remains a luxury for many households and businesses across the country.