Electricity distribution companies (DisCos) recorded a combined revenue gap of N92.93 billion in October, after billing only N255.19 billion out of N303.85 billion worth of energy received – a N48.66 billion billing shortfall.
Out of the total billings, it also collected N210.92 billion, leaving a N44.27 billion collection gap.These are contained in the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) commercial performance factsheet for October, released on yesterday.
The disparity between energy received and energy billed translated to a billing efficiency of 83.99 per cent, representing a decline of 2.45 percentage points compared to September 2025.
This deterioration highlights persistent technical, commercial and metering challenges that continue to limit the ability of DisCos to convert supplied energy into billable consumption and revenue.
Although collection efficiency improved slightly to 82.66 per cent, up by 1.4 percentage points, the gap between billings and collected revenue remained substantial.
Cumulatively, the combined effect of billing inefficiency and collection gap meant that DisCos were unable to recover a significant portion of the value of electricity delivered within the period.
NERC’s data pointed to an allowed average tariff of N116.25 per kilowatt-hour, while the actual average collection stood at N95.89 per kilowatt-hour, reflecting a recovery efficiency of 82.49 per cent, down by 0.96 percentage points.
“Collection and recovery efficiency above 100 per cent is due to collections of outstanding bills from previous months,” the Commission stated
A breakdown of individual DisCos reveals wide disparities in performance, both in billing and revenue recovery. Abuja Electricity Distribution Company received energy valued at N46.32 billion but billed N38.93 billion, posting a billing efficiency of 84.05 per cent.
It collected N34.39 billion, achieving a collection efficiency of 88.35 per cent. Its recovery efficiency stood at 88.3 per cent, with actual average collection of N104.46 per kilowatt-hour against an allowed tariff of N118.30.
Benin DisCo recorded one of the weakest revenue recoveries. From the N30.38 billion value of energy received, it billed N19.84 billion, translating to a billing efficiency of 65.32 per cent.
Revenue collected stood at N16.61 billion, while recovery efficiency fell to 65.16 per cent, with actual average collection of N76.39 per kilowatt-hour compared to an allowed tariff of N117.23.
Eko DisCo showed relatively strong billing performance, passing N40.29 billion to consumers out of N42.1 billion received, achieving a billing efficiency of 95.71 per cent.
It collected N37.67 billion, with collection efficiency at 93.5 per cent.
However, recovery efficiency declined to 101.65 per cent, reflecting variations in actual collections relative to tariff assumptions. Enugu DisCo billed N20.95 billion from N26.11 billion received, posting a billing efficiency of 80.23 per cent. Its revenue collection stood at N16.91 billion, while recovery efficiency was 77.67 per cent.
Ibadan DisCo billed N26.7 billion from N36.33 billion received, resulting in a billing efficiency of 73.51 per cent. Revenue collected was N22.56 billion, while recovery efficiency stood at 74.16 per cent, reflecting the actual average collection of N86.34 per kilowatt-hour compared to the allowed N116.43.
Ikeja DisCo emerged as one of the strongest performers in revenue terms as it billed N 41.26 billion from N43.72 billion received. This translated to a billing efficiency of 94.36 per cent.
Revenue collected reached N42.11 billion, translating to a collection efficiency of 102.07 per cent. In contrast, Jos and Kaduna DisCos posted some of the weakest outcomes as Jos billed N13.50 billion from N15.91 billion received but collected only N5.26 billion, resulting in a collection efficiency of 38.98 per cent and a recovery efficiency of 42.28 per cent. Kaduna DisCo billed N12.63 billion from N14.93 billion received and collected N5.43 billion, with a recovery efficiency of 43.70 per cent.
Kano DisCo recorded a billing efficiency of 98.05 per cent but collected N10.22 billion out of N17.42 billion billed, while Port Harcourt DisCo collected N16.35 billion from N18.78 billion billed, posting a recovery efficiency of 82.97 per cent.
Yola DisCo billed N4.84 billion from N7.33 billion it received and collected N3.36 billion, with recovery efficiency pegged at 77.21 per cent.
