By Seun Ibiyemi
Electricity consumers across Nigeria failed to pay N48.85 billion in electricity bills in June 2026, according to commercial performance data released by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).
The 11 distribution companies (DisCos) billed customers N240.71 billion for electricity consumed during the month but collected only N191.86 billion, leaving a substantial gap between billed revenue and actual collections.
The shortfall pushed the sector’s overall collection efficiency down to 79.71 per cent, representing a 2.61 percentage-point decline from the previous month.
The mounting unpaid bills also highlighted a deterioration in consumer payment performance compared with May, when the DisCos recovered N208.15 billion.
The data showed that customer defaults reduced total revenue by N16.29 billion, or 7.8 per cent month-on-month, even as the DisCos took delivery of bulk electricity worth N315.73 billion to supply the grid.
With energy billed at an average allowed tariff of N130.15 per kilowatt-hour, actual recoveries fell to N96.63 per kilowatt-hour, reducing revenue recovery efficiency to 74.24 per cent.
Customer payment compliance varied significantly across the distribution networks.
Benin DisCo recorded the highest collection efficiency at 94 per cent, followed by Ikeja Electric at 89 per cent and Eko DisCo at 88.64 per cent.
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In contrast, the northern distribution networks recorded some of the lowest recovery rates.
Kano DisCo collected 42.16 per cent of billed amounts, while Kaduna DisCo recovered 46.13 per cent and Jos DisCo realised 55.18 per cent.
The figures highlight the uneven financial performance of the distribution companies and the challenges of recovering revenue from electricity consumers.
The persistent inability or refusal of some electricity users to settle their monthly bills continues to weaken liquidity across the power value chain.
The shortfall in collections threatens the DisCos’ capacity to meet upstream market obligations and could further complicate efforts to sustain ongoing reforms in the electricity sector.
