Nigeria's electricity distribution companies (DisCos) recorded a loss of ₦60.65 billion in revenue in November 2025, reflecting ongoing collection challenges. This was disclosed in a report released by the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC). The NERC’s Factsheet, which contains the commercial performance data of the DisCos for November 2025 show that ₦269.43 billion was total …
DisCos Lose ₦60.65bn Revenue in November
Nigeria’s electricity distribution companies (DisCos) recorded a loss of ₦60.65 billion in revenue in November 2025, reflecting ongoing collection challenges.
This was disclosed in a report released by the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).
The NERC’s Factsheet, which contains the commercial performance data of the DisCos for November 2025 show that ₦269.43 billion was total energy billed by the 12 DisCos while ₦208.78 billion was total revenue collected in the month, reflecting 22.51 per cent loss.
While the ₦60.65 billion figure represents the collection gap (the difference between what was billed and what was actually collected), the total leakage in the system is even higher when compared with the electricity that was delivered to customers but never billed.
According to the NERC report, ₦342.29 billion was total energy received by the DisCos while ₦269.43 billion was billed to customers, reflecting a shortfall of ₦72.86 billion in November according to commercial performance data released by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission.
The November 2025 Fact Sheet highlights a disconnect between the energy DisCos received and the revenue they eventually collected.
The report identifies three primary factors that led to the ₦60.65 billion collection loss and a ₦72.86 billion loss in the billing stage.
The collection efficiency fell to 77.49 per cent in November, down from 82.66 per cent in October. This means for every ₦100 billed, only about ₦77 was actually recovered.
Unbilled Energy
The ₦72.86 billion unbilled energy is largely attributed to energy theft (meter bypass), technical losses on aging networks, and poor customer enumeration.
As of 30 September 2025, only 6,661,564 out of the 12,030,315 active registered electricity customers (55.37 per cent) across the 12 DisCos were metered, meaning that 5,368,751 customers remain unmetered.
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According to the report, performance varied wildly across DisCos operating in different parts of the country. In terms of revenue recovery performance, collection efficiency, Eko DisCo led with 91.67 per cent, followed by Ikeja (89.72 per cent) and Abuja DisCo (74.78 per cent). Kaduna DisCo recorded the lowest of 33.24 per cent, followed by Jos and Ibadan DisCos with recovery efficiencies of 51.84 per cent and 59.75 per cent, respectively.
Impact on Financial Stability
The report on revenue losses, which has been a recurring incident, highlights the liquidity crisis, which makes it difficult for DisCos to pay Generation Companies (GenCos) and the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), often resulting in the federal government having to step in with massive subsidies to keep the power sector running.
The Nigerian government had projected to spend about ₦2.36 trillion on electricity subsidies in 2025. This was higher than ₦1.94 trillion spent on electricity subsidies in 2024
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.
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