Nigeria’s power sector lost an estimated ₦187bn to unbilled electricity between July and October 2025, as electricity distribution companies (DisCos) failed to issue bills for a significant portion of power received, according to data from the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).
NERC’s Commercial Performance of Distribution Companies factsheets show that the 11 DisCos received electricity valued at ₦300.04bn in July but billed customers only ₦243.14bn, leaving ₦54.9bn unbilled and a billing efficiency of 81.04 per cent. In August, billing efficiency improved slightly to 83.85 per cent, yet ₦45.97bn worth of energy out of ₦284.64bn received was not billed.
September recorded the strongest performance within the period, with billing efficiency rising to 86.43 per cent, though losses remained high at ₦37.91bn. The trend reversed in October, when DisCos received power valued at ₦303.85bn but billed only ₦255.19bn, resulting in an unbilled shortfall of ₦48.66bn and a decline in billing efficiency to 83.99 per cent. More than 16 per cent of electricity delivered during the month went unbilled.
NERC noted that billing efficiency fell by 2.45 percentage points in October compared with September, despite increased energy intake from the national grid. Analysts attributed the persistent losses to structural challenges, including inadequate metering, reliance on estimated billing, energy theft, network losses and operational inefficiencies across several franchise areas.
The data also revealed sharp disparities among DisCos. Kano Electricity Distribution Company recorded the highest billing efficiency at 98.05 per cent, followed by Eko DisCo at 95.71 per cent and Ikeja DisCo at 94.36 per cent. By contrast, Benin DisCo billed only 65.32 per cent of energy received in October, while Yola DisCo recorded 66.03 per cent and Ibadan DisCo 73.51 per cent, meaning more than a quarter of supplied electricity in those areas was not billed.
Even some of the largest DisCos struggled to fully monetise delivered power. Abuja DisCo billed ₦38.93bn out of ₦46.32bn worth of energy received, while Enugu DisCo billed ₦20.95bn from ₦26.11bn supplied.
Power sector experts warn that the scale of unbilled energy threatens market stability, as DisCos are expected to remit payments to the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc and other market participants largely based on what they bill and collect.
NERC’s figures further show that while total energy received by DisCos rose by 8.73 per cent in October, billing increased by only 5.65 per cent, further widening the value gap of unbilled power.
Elijah Adeyemi
