Nigeria’s electricity metering rate rose marginally to 63.1 per cent in August 2026 from 62.4 per cent within the previous month, serving to scale back customers with out meters to 4.7 million, in accordance to metering factsheet information revealed by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) on Wednesday.
Metered customers in Nigeria rose from 7,903,819 in July to 8,045,565 in August, a 1.8 per cent improve, the information confirmed.
However, newly metered customers declined throughout the interval, falling from 159,980 in July to 141,746 in August.
The figures point out that though metered customers continued to develop, the tempo of latest installations slowed in August.
The information implies the whole variety of energetic electricity customers within the nation elevated from 12,671,795 in July to 12,749,789 in August.
This represents a rise of 0.6 per cent, or 77,994 customers, within the month.
Arbitrary estimated billing due to metering gaps has been a significant problem in electricity billing in Nigeria through the years.
A good portion of registered electricity customers in Nigeria lack entry to pay as you go meters, forcing distribution firms to depend on estimates slightly than precise consumption when calculating their payments.
Similarly, poor energy provide, pushed by infrastructure constraints and frequent grid collapse, continues to undermine dependable electricity provide within the nation.
Joseph Tegbe, the Minister of Power, vowed, following his appointment in June, to establish energy distribution, metering, transparency, and sub-national participation as key areas of intervention within the trade.
Eko and Ikeja DisCos lead metering efficiency
A breakdown of the 11 electricity distribution firms’ (DisCos) efficiency confirmed appreciable variations of their metering charges.
Eko Electricity Distribution Company recorded the best metering rate at 89.6 per cent in August, up from 89.3 per cent in July.
Ikeja Electric adopted with a metering rate of 87.7 per cent, barely under the 87.9 per cent reported in July.
Abuja Electricity Distribution Company recorded a metering rate of 82.6 per cent, up from 82 per cent the earlier month.
Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company additionally improved its metering rate to 71 per cent in August from 69.6 per cent in July.
Benin DisCo’s metering rate rose from 63.2 per cent to 64.4 per cent, whereas Ibadan DisCo improved from 58.6 per cent to 59.2 per cent.
Enugu DisCo recorded a metering rate of 52.4 per cent, barely up from 52.1 per cent in July.
Northern DisCos report lowest charges
The factsheet confirmed that Jos DisCo had the bottom metering rate in August at 37.6 per cent, up from 36.5 per cent in July.
Yola DisCo adopted at 39.2 per cent, up from 37.8 per cent.
Kaduna DisCo recorded 42.3 per cent, relative to 41.3 per cent in July, whereas Kano DisCo’s metering rate elevated from 41.6 per cent to 42.8 per cent.
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The comparatively low charges imply many customers served by these firms stay with out meters.
The August figures point out that Nigeria’s electricity metering protection continues to enhance, however progress varies throughout distribution firms.
While Eko, Ikeja and Abuja have metered greater than 80 per cent of their energetic customers, Jos, Yola, Kaduna and Kano stay under 43 per cent.
The general improve in metered customers additionally got here alongside an increase within the variety of energetic customers, highlighting the necessity for distribution firms to maintain and speed up installations to scale back the metering hole.
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