Nigeria’s power distribution companies grew their revenue collections by about 43 per cent in the first eight months of 2025, raking in a total of N1.5tn, compared with N1.05tn recorded in the same period of 2024, data from the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission revealed on Sunday.

The NERC, in its latest Commercial Performance Report, said the 12 electricity distribution firms jointly collected N553.63bn in the first quarter of 2025, N564.71bn in the second quarter, and N193.96bn in July.

The NERC’s August 2025 fact sheet showed an additional N191.11bn was remitted by the companies during the month, bringing total collections between January and August 2025 to about N1.503tn.

In comparison, the same group of utilities recorded N291.62bn in the first quarter of 2024, N431.16bn in the second quarter, and N162bn in July. NERC’s records also indicated that the firms collected N168.7bn in August 2024, summing up to N1.053tn within the same eight-month period.

The year-on-year growth represents an increase of about N450bn, a clear indication of improved billing and collection efficiency across most electricity distribution networks. Although illiquidity remains a lingering issue in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry, recent improvements in revenue collection by the distribution companies suggest that financial stability across the value chain may be gradually improving.

The revenue jump is attributed to a combination of better tariff enforcement, ongoing metering drives, and tighter revenue monitoring by the regulator.

NERC has consistently reported gradual gains in collection efficiency, which reached 80 per cent in August 2025, up slightly from previous months, suggesting that the sector may be on track for a more financially stable year.

The improvement represents a strong recovery for the power sector, which had struggled with revenue leakages, poor metering, and high technical losses in previous years.

In the newly released August report, the 11 power distribution companies collectively remitted N191.11bn in August, a marginal decline of 1.47 per cent compared to the N193.96bn collected in July 2025.

Eko Electricity Distribution Company emerged as the top performer, collecting N33.4bn in August, slightly higher than the N33.2bn it remitted in July. Ikeja Electric followed closely with N38.7bn, maintaining its leading position in collection efficiency with a 102.67 per cent rate, compared with N38.5bn in the previous month.

Abuja Electricity Distribution Company collected N29.09bn in August, a marginal increase from N28.8bn recorded in July. Benin DisCo improved its performance with N14.74bn compared to N14.3bn in the preceding month, while Port Harcourt DisCo collected N14.45bn, slightly higher than N14.1bn in July.

Similarly, Enugu DisCo recorded N14.54bn in August, compared with N14.2bn in July. Ibadan DisCo, one of the largest networks by customer base, collected N19.96bn, showing a modest increase from N19.7bn in July.

Jos DisCo collected N5.77bn, nearly flat against N5.8bn a month earlier, while Kaduna DisCo remitted N4.37bn, slightly up from N4.2bn in July. Kano DisCo’s collection rose to N9.39bn from N9.1bn, while Yola DisCo improved to N2.94bn from N2.8bn.

According to the regulator, the utilities achieved an average collection efficiency of 80.07 per cent in August, marginally higher than July’s 79.77 per cent, while overall revenue-recovery efficiency stood at 79.78 per cent. The combined energy bill during the month was N238.67bn, with the DisCos receiving electricity worth N284.64bn from the national grid.

A breakdown showed that Eko DisCo led in collection efficiency at 85.64 per cent, followed by Ikeja Electric (102.67 per cent), which posted over 100 per cent recovery due to legacy-billing adjustments, while Jos and Kaduna DisCos remained the least-performing at 50 and 52 per cent respectively.

However, despite the progress, NERC warned that the utilities must still close gaps in billing accuracy and energy accounting, as the national billing efficiency averaged 83.85 per cent, below international benchmarks.

At the just-concluded Power Correspondents Association of Nigeria energy Conference, the National President of the Association for Public Policy Analysis Nigeria, Chief Princewill Okorie, blamed the liquidity crisis in the power sector on the negligence of the DisCos.

He argued that the cost-reflective tariffs should be based on investment in infrastructure, especially in the distribution value chain of the power sector. Adding that the negligence on the part of DisCo is contributing to their claim of lack of liquidity in the sector.

“You see GenCos complaining of N6tn debt, and the DisCos do not spare any consumer for owing them one naira, yet the GenCos are not paid. So, the question here is what is the ideological perspective for this cost-reflective tariff?

“The cost of transformers, poles, cables, feeder pillars, meters, etc, which enhances distribution of electricity to end users (Consumers) should be considered as a major component of the cost incurred to supply electricity.

“Are these costs taken care of by the GenCos, DisCos, consumers, or government? It is expected that the DisCos, which are investors, should bear the cost of electricity infrastructure and maintenance. Hence, it should be part of the cost to be considered in fixing a cost-reflective tariff.

“The sad story here is that it is the consumers who pay tariff that still provide and maintain infrastructure, which the DisCos take over as national critical assets and infrastructure, to make money without refunding the consumers who many a times borrow to provide them and pay back with interest to the banks without being refunded by the DisCos who use them to generate revenue.”

“In some cases, the meters, which were said to be free, were sold to consumers, and the revenue the meters have generated from vending has been diverted. Yet DisCos are complaining of a lack of liquidity.”

With ongoing grid reforms and digital billing initiatives, the regulator projected that full-year 2025 collections might surpass N2.2tn if current momentum is maintained.