Mkpoikana Udoma
Port Harcourt — The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, has raised alarm over the widening electricity billing gap, revealing that 1.51TWh of energy was not captured or billed by distribution companies, DisCos, in Q1 2025.
The loss in energy accountability is estimated to have cost the sector over N56 billion.
According to NERC’s Q1 2025 report, out of the 9,343.15GWh of energy received by DisCos, only 7,833.53GWh was billed to customers, resulting in an energy billing efficiency of just 83.8%, down from 85.5% in the previous quarter.
The 1.5TWh discrepancy reflects a mix of poor metering infrastructure, energy theft, and inaccurate estimated billing, especially in unmetered residential areas.
“The sector cannot thrive if nearly 16% of distributed energy remains unbilled. The integrity of customer enumeration, metering and billing processes must be improved significantly,” NERC warned.
The Commission noted that improved metering coverage is essential for transparency.
Despite metering being a central priority under the Meter Asset Provider, MAP scheme, over 52% of customers remain unmetered as of Q1 2025, NERC disclosed. This reliance on estimated billing has led to growing customer dissatisfaction and payment apathy.
NERC emphasized that DisCos must ramp up investment in smart metering and audit customer enumeration to close the billing gap. It is also considering tougher enforcement measures against defaulting operators.
The billing inefficiency also undermines the liquidity flow in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry, NESI, affecting the Market Operator’s ability to settle payments across the value chain, from GenCos to gas suppliers.
The billing shortfall is a blow to DisCos, many of whom are already struggling with high Aggregate Technical, Commercial & Collection, ATC&C losses and mounting debt.
Consumer advocate groups have called for stiffer penalties for energy theft and greater transparency in billing methodology.
“We need more prepaid meters available and less guesswork in the name of estimated billing,” a consumer rights activist, Dr Fyneface Dumnamene told SweetCrude Reports.
