Ikeja Electric, Eko Electric, Others Report Growth In Revenues Despite Decline In Billing Efficiency

• The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission has published the Q1 2025 report to show how much Discos made as revenue
• The report shows an interesting increase in revenue, even when electricity supplied and billed declined
• The report raises questions about Nigeria's power sector, and the accuracy of the electricity bills consumers that are tasked with paying

Ruth Okwumbu-Imafidon, a journalist with Legit.ng, has over a decade of experience in business reporting across digital and mainstream media.

Electricity distribution companies in Nigeria collected a whopping N553.63 billion as revenue from customers from January to March 2025.

This is according to data from the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission Q1 2025 report.

This revenue marks a 8.59% rise from the previous quarter, and a growth of N43.79 billion from the N509.84 billion reported in Q4, 2024.

Customers lament poor power as discos increase revenues

While the discos are reporting increased revenues, Nigerian electricity consumers are complaining of poor power supply and persistent outages.

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The discos, on their part, are still battling billing inefficiencies and distribution challenges resulting from outdated infrastructure.

The NERC report shows that while electricity generation increased from 9,289.95GWh in Q4 2024 to 10,304.47GWh in Q1 2025, much of it was lost in transmission, meaning that the discos did not earn more revenue from it.

Billing efficiency declined from 83.66% in Q4 2024 to 81.18% in Q1 2025, with the discos only billing customers for 6,631.92GWh out of the 8,169GWh received from the grid.

Customers pay more for less

The contrast is that while billing and collection efficiency dropped, discos' revenue increased nearly 9%.

About N191 billion in billed revenue was uncollected for the quarter, and the aggregate technical, commercial and collection losses surged past the 20.54% mark to 39.61%.

This leaves an unanswered question about how the discos still increased revenue in this quarter compared to the last.

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Recall that two discos were recently penalised for overbilling, and one of them was directed to refund electricity credit worth N241.45 million as compensation to about 9,823 customers.

NERC reports zero grid collapse in Q1 2025

Another highlight of the report is that the quarter recorded zero national grid collapses, an interesting deviating from the previous year.

The year 2024 had recorded a total of 13 national grid collapses, implying that Nigerians had to cope with several days of darkness in every month.

The narrative has changed in 2025 with zero grid collapses in the first three months.

However, there were recurring violations of key technical parameters like the average lower daily (49.28Hz) and average upper daily (50.77Hz) system frequencies, as well as the average lower daily system voltage (296.56kV) and the average upper daily system voltage (346.82kV).

NERC has warned that if the issues are not addressed, they could affect operational stability, the PUNCH reports.

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NERC stops third-party bills collection

In related news, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has issued new guidelines to DisCos on cash and digital bill collection.

The commission said the new guideline prohibits unlicensed third-party agents from collecting bills on behalf of any DisCo.

Legit.ng reported that only third-party agents licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria and NIBSS, with verifiable tax compliance could be allowed.

Source: Legit.ng