By Mary Izuaka

 

Nigeria’s electricity distribution companies (DisCos) generated N630.93 billion in combined revenue for the fourth quarter of 2025, the quarterly report by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) said.

The latest document released by the regulator said a total of N630.93 billion was collected by all DisCos in the fourth quarter of 2025 out of the N795.06 billion billed to customers.

This, it said translates to a collection efficiency of 79.36 per cent, representing a decrease of 1.35 percentage point compared to 2025/Q3 (80.70 per cent).

Billing efficiency

The regulator said the naira value of the total energy offtake by all DisCos in 2025/Q4 was N969.19 billion, and the total energy billed was N795.06 billion, which translates to a billing efficiency of 82.03 per cent.

It explained that the billing efficiency of 82.03 per cent recorded during the quarter represents a decrease of 0.66 percentage point compared to 2025/Q3 (82.69 per cent).

At an aggregate level, NERC said DisCos cumulatively recorded billing losses of N174.12 billion in 2025/Q4.

The Aggregate Technical, Commercial and Collection (ATC&C) loss is a summation of billing losses incurred by a DisCo due to its inability to bill 100 per cent of energy delivered to customers (technical and commercial losses); collection losses arising from the DisCo’s inability to collect 100 per cent of the bills issued to customers.

The report said the weighted average ATC&C loss across all DisCos in 2025/Q4 was 34.90 per cent, comprising technical and commercial loss (17.97 per cent) and
collection loss (20.64 per cent).

It noted that the ATC&C loss of 34.90 per cent is 14.36 percentage points higher than the 2025 Multi-Year Tariff Order (MYTO) target (20.54 per cent) and translates to a cumulative revenue loss of N139.193 billion across all DisCos.

The ATC&C loss, according to NERC, increased by 1.63 percentage point (worse performance) compared to 2025/Q3 (33.27 per cent).

“All the DisCos except Eko failed to meet their ATC&C targets during the quarter, with Kaduna DisCo recording the worst underperformance relative to the target (Actual – 69.45 per cent vs target –21.32 per cent),” the report said.

Remittances

On market remittance, the regulator said in 2025/Q4, the cumulative upstream invoice payable by DisCos was N471.66 billion, consisting of N386.13 billion for DRO-adjusted generation costs from the Nigeria Bulk Electricity Trading Plc (NBET) and N85.53 billion for transmission and administrative services by the Market Operator (MO).

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Out of this amount, NERC said the DisCos collectively remitted a total sum of N437.27 billion (N359.27 billion for NBET and N77.99 billion for MO) with an outstanding balance of N34.39 billion.

This it said translates to a remittance performance of 92.71 per cent in 2025/Q4 compared to the 95.21 per cent recorded in 2025/Q3.

The report said in 2025/Q4, the three international bilateral customers purchasing power from the grid-connected generation companies (GenCos) made a cumulative payment of $10.89 million against the $20.44 million invoice issued by the MO for services rendered in 2025/Q4 (remittance rate: 53.28 per cent).

“Furthermore, domestic bilateral customers made a cumulative payment of N3,514.06 million against the N4,172.11 million invoice issued by the MO for services rendered in 2025/Q4 (remittance rate: 84.23 per cent),” it said.