Despite a steady installation of meters throughout 2025, not less than 5.2 million electricity customers across the country remain unmetered, leaving them subject to the controversial estimated billing system.
This figure was revealed in the latest Metering Factsheet released recently by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).
This significant metering gap persists even as the national customer base continues to grow.
The report said the total number of metered customers reached 6,966,584 out of 12,163,412 active customers as of December 2025.
According to the report, the national metering rate rose to 57.27 per cent by the end of December, up from 56.54 per cent in November.
It also shows that a total of 109,556 customers were metered (new installations) in December alone, compared to 88,592 in November.
The data shows that while meter deployment continued throughout the year, it struggled to keep pace with the rising number of connections. The NERC’s report shows that the number of active customers increased by 34,801 from 12,128,611 in November to 12,163,412 in December 2025.
Disparities Among Distribution Companies
Performance in metering varied widely across the 11 electricity Distribution companies (DisCos).
Ikeja Electric recorded the highest metering rate in both November and December with 85.91 per cent and 86.40 per cent respectively. This is followed by Eko DisCo ( 84.86 per cent in November and 85.87 per cent in December) and Abuja DisCo (76.71 per cent in November and 77.81 per cent in December).
On the other hand, Jos Electricity Distribution Company recorded the lowest metering rate in November with 29.79 per cent while Yola recorded the lowest in December with 30.80 per cent.
An earlier report released by the NERC indicates that in Q3, Ibadan, Aba, and Abuja DisCos recorded the highest number of meter installations, accounting for 23.38 per cent, 20.81 per cent, and 19.06 per cent of the total, respectively. Aba Power Distribution Company showed remarkable progress, boosting its metering rate from 69.49 per cent in September to 78.20 per cent by the end of October.
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Eko and Ikeja DisCos remained the industry’s best performers, consistently maintaining metering rates above 84 per cent. However, the situation in other regions is dire. Enugu, Jos, Kaduna, Kano, and Yola DisCos all ended October 2025 with metering rates below the 50 per cent threshold, leaving the majority of their customers subject to estimated bills. The third quarter saw nine DisCos record declines in meter installations, with Port Harcourt and Jos DisCos experiencing the sharpest drops of 62.35 per cent and 61.68 per cent, respectively.
Slow Progress and Dominant Metering Schemes
The NERC report for Q3 highlighted a heavy reliance on alternative funding mechanisms, with the Meter Asset Provider (MAP) framework dominating the market. MAP accounted for 176,302 installations, or 77.12 per cent of the total in Q3. The Vendor-Financed framework followed, contributing 44,104 meters.
Conversely, the contribution from the DisCos themselves remained abysmally low. Under the DisCo-Financed framework, only 131 meters were installed in Q3 2025, representing a mere 0.06 per cent of all installations for the quarter. An analysis of the report by the national electricity regulator revealed that DisCos had financed a paltry 90,172 meters cumulatively between 2019 and Q3 2025, signaling a near-total neglect of their metering obligations. Meanwhile, other government-backed initiatives like the World Bank-supported Distribution Sector Recovery Programme (DISREP) installed 7,902 meters in Q3, and the Meter Acquisition Fund (MAF) accounted for 175.
The Burden of Estimated Billing
The large number of unmetered customers continues to expose millions of Nigerians to the vagaries of estimated billing, often leading to disputes between consumers and DisCos. To mitigate this, NERC has continued to enforce monthly energy caps for all feeders. This policy sets the maximum amount of energy that can be billed to an unmetered customer, based on the energy received by the DisCo and the consumption of metered customers on the same feeder.
However, consumer advocates argue that capping is only a temporary measure and that universal metering is the only permanent solution to ensure fairness and transparency.
Government’s Plan to Bridge the Gap
In response to the persistent challenge, the Federal Government has ramped up efforts under the Presidential Metering Initiative (PMI). The Minister of Power, Chief Adebayo Adelabu, announced that the government aims to procure and deploy about 10 million meters over the next five years, with a target of installing an average of two million meters annually.
This initiative, backed by ₦700 billion in funding, is designed to accelerate meter deployment, strengthen local manufacturing, and ultimately eliminate the estimated billing system. “We are optimistic that in a couple of years to come, every household, every business… will be fully metered, so that billing and collections in the power sector will become more transparent,” Adelabu stated.
Combined with the DISREP programme targeting 3.2 million smart meters and other schemes, the government believes it has the capacity to finally close the nation’s long-standing metering gap.
Energy analysts have repeatedly linked the commercial losses often recorded by DisCos to the metering gap. The recent data released by NERC showed that 11 DisCos recorded a monthly revenue shortfall of ₦51.17 billion in December 2025.
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist, scholar and analyst of socioeconomic issues in Nigeria and Africa. He is skilled in energy reporting, business and economy, and holds a master's degree in mass communication.
