Discos recover N196bn from electricity bills as collection efficiency drops

Nigeria’s electricity distribution companies (Discos) collected N196.13 billion from customers in March 2026, recovering nearly 80 per cent of the N246.43 billion billed during the month, according to the latest commercial performance report released by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).

The report showed that the power distribution firms achieved a collection efficiency of 79.59 per cent, leaving about N50.3 billion in billed revenue unpaid by customers.

The data also indicated that while energy supplied to the Discos increased during the month, their ability to convert that supply into billable revenue weakened, resulting in a decline in industry-wide billing efficiency.

According to NERC, electricity distributed to the Discos in March was valued at N293.76 billion, representing a 6.02 per cent increase compared to the preceding month. However, total billings rose by only 1.71 per cent to N246.43 billion.

As a result, billing efficiency – which measures the proportion of energy received that is successfully billed to customers – declined to 83.89 per cent, down by 3.55 percentage points from February.

Revenue collection performance also weakened slightly. Although the Discos generated N196.13 billion in collections, the figure represented a marginal decline of 0.28 per cent compared to the previous month.

The collection efficiency rate equally fell by 1.58 percentage points, highlighting ongoing challenges in recovering payments from electricity consumers across the country.

Despite the drop in collections, the industry recorded a modest improvement in overall revenue recovery performance.

NERC reported that the average approved tariff for electricity stood at N124.30 per kilowatt-hour during the month, while actual collections averaged N100.75 per kilowatt-hour. This translated to a revenue recovery efficiency of 81.05 per cent, slightly higher than the level recorded in February.

Among the distribution companies, Ikeja Electric emerged as the top performer in revenue collection. The company billed customers N41.82 billion and recovered N40.30 billion, translating to a collection efficiency of 96.38 per cent. It also posted the highest revenue recovery efficiency in the industry at 99.30 per cent.

Eko Electricity Distribution Company followed closely, recording a revenue recovery rate of 95.73 per cent after collecting N33.89 billion from total billings of N38.65 billion.

Benin Electricity Distribution Company also delivered a strong performance, achieving a collection efficiency of 90.97 per cent and a revenue recovery rate of 85.18 per cent.

In terms of billing efficiency, Eko Disco ranked first with 92.30 per cent, followed by Port Harcourt Disco at 90.36 per cent and Ikeja Electric at 87.76 per cent.

At the other end of the spectrum, Kaduna Electric posted the weakest performance in the industry. The utility collected only N4.66 billion from N12.10 billion billed, resulting in a collection efficiency of 38.54 per cent and a revenue recovery rate of 35.65 per cent.

Jos Electricity Distribution Company also faced significant collection challenges, recovering N6.74 billion from N11.63 billion billed. The performance translated to a collection efficiency of 57.94 per cent and a revenue recovery rate of 53.53 per cent.

Yola Electricity Distribution Company recorded the lowest billing efficiency among the 11 Discos at 58.68 per cent, indicating that a substantial portion of the energy it received was not converted into customer billings.

Other operators posted mixed results. Abuja Disco recorded a revenue recovery efficiency of 81.09 per cent, Enugu Disco 81.79 per cent, Kano Disco 76.09 per cent, Ibadan Disco 71.65 per cent, while Yola Disco posted 58.58 per cent.

The latest figures highlight the persistent commercial and operational challenges facing Nigeria’s electricity distribution segment, particularly in the areas of energy accounting, billing and revenue collection, which continue to affect the financial sustainability of the power sector.