In the month of May 2025, electricity consumers throughout Nigeria accumulated a staggering N70.25 billion in unpaid bills, as detailed in the latest commercial performance report released by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission.
The twelve electricity distribution companies invoiced an aggregate of N261.82 billion during this period but only managed to garner N191.57 billion, yielding a collection efficiency of 73.17 percent. This represented a decline of 4.42 percentage points compared to April 2025.
The report indicated that the total energy received by the Discos surged by 5.80 percent to reach 2,774.49 gigawatt-hours, while the total energy billed experienced an uptick of 3.25 percent, reaching 2,255.51 gigawatt-hours.
In spite of the boost in energy supply and billing, the billing efficiency dipped to 81.29 percent, reflecting a 2.01 percentage point decrease from the prior month. Revenue recovery performance also took a pronounced nosedive. Although the sanctioned average tariff was set at N116.25 per kilowatt-hour, the actual collection averaged N82.05/kWh, signifying a recovery efficiency of 70.58 percent — down by 7.32 percentage points from April.
This indicates that the DisCos were able to recover significantly less than the amounts they were authorized to charge. Among the various DisCos, Ikeja, Benin, and Eko distinguished themselves with superior billing and collection efficiencies, with Ikeja achieving the highest billing efficiency at 89.04 percent. Eko displayed the strongest recovery efficiency at 82.52 percent, closely trailed by Ikeja at 81.55 percent.
Conversely, Yola and Jos persistently lagged behind in critical metrics, with Jos exhibiting the lowest collection efficiency at a mere 35.55 percent and Yola showcasing the weakest billing efficiency at 63.45 percent.
Despite slight improvements in energy supply and billing figures, the overall commercial performance of the DisCos deteriorated in May. The reductions in collection and recovery efficiencies underscore ongoing challenges in revenue assurance and financial sustainability within the electricity distribution sector.
