Discos Collects over N208bn from Consumers Despite Incessant Power Failures

Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja

Nigeria’s Electricity Distribution Companies (Discos) have collected more than N208.78 billion from electricity consumers in just one month despite persistent power outages in the country, one of the highest revenue received by the power utilities in recent times.

Data from the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) covering November 2025, indicated that  Discos got electricity valued at N342.29 billion during the period, but billed customers N269.43 billion, and collected over N200 billion of that amount.

This came as complaints about load shedding, transformer failures, weak voltage and prolonged blackouts remained widespread across the country.

In the sector, estimated billing, irregular meter readings, and charges during prolonged outages have remained key points of contention. Consumer advocacy groups have argued that the ability of Discos to collect such large sums in a month characterised by unstable supply raises serious questions about billing practices and regulatory enforcement.

However, from the operators’ perspective, the argument has always been that the revenue collected is still insufficient to cover the full cost of power. Discos insist that high technical and commercial losses, poor remittances from some customer segments, energy theft and tariffs that do not fully reflect costs continue to undermine financial sustainability.

According to the regulator, actual collections stood at N208.78 billion for the month, representing an efficiency of about 77 per cent. When measured against the total cost of power supplied, however, the companies recovered 72.48 per cent, leaving a significant shortfall that continues to strain the electricity value chain.

But NERC’s data showed that the average recoverable tariff for the month stood at N124.30 per kilowatt-hour, while the actual average collection was N90.09 per kilowatt-hour. This gap indicated both under-collection and unpaid bills, but also highlighted that consumers continued to make substantial payments even when power supply fell short of expectations.

Billing efficiency data further underscored the contradiction between collections and service quality. While the sector-wide billing efficiency stood at 78.72 per cent, meaning over N73 billion worth of electricity was never billed, some Discos billed less than two-thirds of the energy received. Yet, even with these losses and widespread outages, total cash collections still crossed the N200 billion mark.

Last year, the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, took a swipe at the Discos operating in the country, maintaining that they have not only disappointed Nigerians, but have become the weakest link in the power supply value chain.

Adelabu also decried the continued low remittances from the power distributors, especially the Discos from the northern part of Nigeria, revealing that they only paid 30 per cent of the expected revenues last year.

“We need to get tough with the Discos, as they can easily frustrate all the gains we have made. They have disappointed us in performance expectations. Whatever we do in generation does not mean anything to consumers if it is frustrated at the distribution points,” he said at a meeting in Ikot-Ekpene in Akwa Ibom.

Besides, a closer look at the individual Discos showed that performance was heavily skewed, with Lagos-based utilities accounting for the strongest results. Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC) posted the highest recovery efficiency at 91.67 per cent, indicating that it recovered nearly all the cost of power supplied to it.

The company also posted a billing efficiency above 93 per cent and a collection efficiency of about 86 per cent, meaning that most of the energy received was billed and a large proportion of bills issued were paid.

Also, Ikeja Electricity followed closely, with a recovery efficiency of 89.72 per cent. Ikeja also led the sector in collection efficiency at just over 90 per cent, showing relatively strong enforcement and payment discipline among its customer base. Its billing efficiency was also high.

Furthermore, Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) recorded a moderate performance, recovering about 73 per cent of its expected revenue. While its billing efficiency was relatively stable, collection efficiency lagged behind that of the Lagos Discos.

In the same vein, Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) recovered 62.34 per cent of the cost of electricity supplied to it. Its billing efficiency hovered around the 60 per cent range, indicating that a significant portion of energy received was never billed.

But in the North, performance was markedly weaker, with Jos Electricity Distribution Company (JEDC) recovering only 51.84 per cent of the cost of power supplied to it. Its collection efficiency stood just above 53 per cent, meaning nearly half of billed revenue was not collected.

Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company (KAEDCO) recorded the poorest performance in the sector, with a recovery efficiency of just 33.24 per cent. The Disco billed barely about 60 per cent of the energy received and collected less than 44 per cent of what it billed. This means that for every N100 worth of electricity supplied, Kaduna Disco recovered only about N33, even as customers continued to complain of erratic supply and long outages.

Besides, Kano Electricity Distribution Company (KEDCO) showed relatively strong billing performance, with billing efficiency above 93 per cent, similar to Eko. However, its collection efficiency was weaker, pulling its overall recovery efficiency down to around the mid-70 per cent range.

Yola Electricity Distribution Company (YEDC) also struggled, with billing efficiency just above 60 per cent and recovery efficiency in the low 60 per cent range, reflecting persistent technical and commercial losses.