The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has released its 2024 yearly report showing that two million non-metered Nigerian electricity consumers were overbilled by the distribution companies (DisCos) during the year.
In response, the NERC imposed sanctions on erring DisCos, deducting additional N10.5 billion from their allowable operating expenditure (OpEx).
Recall that in February 2024, NERC fined 11 DisCos for violating the capping of estimated billing from January to September 2023.
In April 2024, eight DisCos were penalised for breaches between July and September 2024.
In both cases, the DisCos were ordered to adjust customers’ bills and energy credits accordingly, while portions of their operating expenditure (OpEx) were withheld as penalties.
DisCos were further directed to publish lists of affected customers and the corresponding credit adjustments on their websites or in newspapers.
NERC said the affected customers were all under estimated billing plans and were protected by the Capping Order, which limits how much DisCos can bill a customer without a meter.
A total of 2,021,913 customers were impacted across the eleven DisCos, with Ikeja Electric, Abuja DisCo, and Enugu DisCo accounting for the largest numbers of overbilled customers and the biggest financial adjustments.
Ikeja Electric led with N20.95 billion in credits issued to 300,079 customers. Abuja DisCo followed closely, refunding N17.87 billion to 300,013 customers. Enugu DisCo adjusted N11.87 billion for 302,062 customers. Port Harcourt and Eko DisCos each issued refunds of N14.19 billion and N14.14 billion, respectively.
The financial deductions from the DisCos’ operating expenses also signal the gravity of their infractions.
Ikeja Electric again topped the list, facing an OpEx deduction of N2.10 billion, followed by Abuja (N1.79 billion), Port Harcourt (N1.42 billion), and Eko (N1.41 billion).
Although the Jos DisCo had one of the highest numbers of affected customers—466,621—it refunded N13.32 billion, a figure that reflects lower per-customer adjustments.
Smaller utilities such as Yola, Kano, and Kaduna DisCos recorded significantly lower refunds: Yola paid N541.89 million to 18,955 customers, Kano refunded N196.98 million to 25,644 customers, and Kaduna issued N1.15 billion to 27,027 customers.
The data also exposed persistent metering challenges and the vulnerability of customers in a power market where trust remains fragile.
With over two million customers affected in a single year, estimated billing continues to undermine consumer confidence.
As of 31 December 2024, NERC said only 6,288,642 (46.57 per cent) of the registered 13,503,342 customers in the market were metered. DisCos installed 572,055 end-use customer meters in 2024 using the different metering frameworks.
The performance data under the 2024 multi-year tariff order (MYTO) showed that nearly all the DisCos failed to meet their aggregate technical, commercial and collection (ATC&C) loss targets.
Abuja, with a MYTO loss target of 25 per cent, recorded 38.51 per cent. Benin and Enugu posted losses of 31.98 per cent and 39.10 per cent, respectively. Ibadan and Ikeja exceeded their targets with 34.62 and 30.44 per cent losses, against benchmarks of 25.00 and 18.73 per cent. Jos and Kaduna performed even worse, reporting losses of 60.74 and 66.52 per cent. Only Yola DisCo performed close to expectations, with a loss of 54.63 per cent against a target of 56.00 per cent. Overall, the national MYTO target stood at 24.73 per cent, while actual ATC&C losses hit 37.95 per cent.
