A new report by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has revealed that electricity consumers in Nigeria racked up a debt of over ₦70 billion in May 2025, as revenue collection by power distribution companies (DisCos) slumped.

According to the commission’s commercial performance report, the 12 DisCos billed customers ₦261.82 billion during the month but were only able to collect ₦191.57 billion—translating to a collection efficiency of 73.17%. This marks a decline of 4.42 percentage points compared to April.

Despite a 5.8% increase in energy supply—reaching 2,774.49 gigawatt-hours—and a 3.25% rise in energy billed, the sector saw a drop in billing efficiency to 81.29%, down by 2.01 percentage points from the previous month.

The decline in revenue recovery was even more concerning. While the approved average tariff stood at ₦116.25 per kilowatt-hour, the actual collection per unit dropped to ₦82.05/kWh. This means the recovery efficiency slid to 70.58%, a 7.32-point drop from April.

Among the DisCos, Ikeja, Benin, and Eko recorded the strongest performances in terms of billing and revenue collection. Ikeja DisCo led in billing efficiency at 89.04%, while Eko had the highest recovery rate at 82.52%.

However, not all regions performed equally. Yola and Jos DisCos struggled across most metrics, with Jos recording the poorest collection efficiency at 35.55%, and Yola lagging behind in billing efficiency at 63.45%.