Nigerians made to cough out N1.13tn electricity bill despite blackouts
Electricity distribution companies (DisCos) in Nigeria collected a total of N1.13tn in revenue from their customers over the six months spanning the second and third quarters of 2025 (April to September), according to detailed monthly performance data from the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission.
This is despite repeated complaints of low power supply among electricity consumers and incessant cases of blackouts in many locations nationwide, Punch reports.
During the period under review, the national power grid suffered a total collapse, plunging customers into darkness. At the same time, GenCos (power generation companies) reported a reduction in power generation due to the low gas supply to power plants as a result of unpaid debts.
Despite this, the NERC report on monthly revenue performance and collection efficiency, covering the 11 DisCos, stated that the total revenue collected by all DisCos in 2025/Q3 was N570.25bn out of the N706.61bn that was billed to customers.
This translates to a collection efficiency of 80.70 per cent. In comparison, the total revenue collected by all DisCos in 2025/Q2 was N564.71bn out of the N742.34bn billed to customers, which translated to a 76.07 per cent collection efficiency.
The summation of both quarters indicates that power users paid N1.13tn to the distribution companies as electricity bills for the six months. This means that at an aggregate level, DisCos recorded a 4.63 pp increase in collection efficiency between 2025/Q2 and 2025/Q3.
In 2025/Q3, Ikeja DisCo recorded the highest collection efficiency of 100 per cent, while three other DisCos recorded collection efficiencies greater than 80 per cent: Eko, 88.74 per cent; Benin, 86.44 per cent; and Abuja, 81.60 per cent. Conversely, Kaduna DisCo recorded the lowest collection efficiency at 45.67 per cent.
A comparison of DisCos’ performance shows that Ikeja (+17.58 percentage points), Port Harcourt (+8.83 pp), Yola (+8.72 pp), Abuja (+5.24 pp), Jos (+4.90 pp), Eko (+0.94 pp), and Benin (+0.89 pp) DisCos recorded improvements in collection efficiency between 2025/Q2 and 2025/Q3.
The six-month total of N1.13tn reflects a modest increase in absolute collections from Q2 to Q3, despite a decline in total billing between the two quarters. This contributed to the overall improvement in collection efficiency by 4.63 percentage points in Q3 compared to Q2.
The data underscores ongoing efforts by DisCos to enhance revenue recovery amid challenges such as estimated billing, energy theft, and infrastructure constraints. Collections in September 2025 (N192.29bn) represented the highest monthly figure in the period, indicating some stabilisation.
