Revenue Declines, Debts Mount for DisCos as Electricity Consumers Refuse to Pay N71.53 billion
- The power sector continues to struggle in Nigeria, as mounting debts from consumers and the government have increased again
- Unpaid electricity bills in December amounted to N148.6 billion, and by January, another N71.53 billion has been added to the number
- This brings it to over N4 trillion in debts owed to electricity generation and distribution companies in Nigeria
Legit.ng journalist Ruth Okwumbu-Imafidon has over a decade of experience in business reporting across digital and mainstream media.
A recent report from the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) shows a decline in revenue collection for the electricity distribution companies (DisCos) as consumers refuse to pay up.
For January 2025, an outstanding debt of N71.53 billion was recorded across 12 DisCos, being the uncollected bills for electricity consumed during the month.
The NERC factsheet shows that whereas the electricity consumed amounted to N250.21 billion, the DisCos were only able to recoup N178.68 billion from the electricity bills they issued.
Source: Twitter
Breakdown of the debts
Ikeja DisCo has the highest uncollected revenue, collecting N32.81 billion from the N44.02 billion issued as electricity bills, while Port Harcourt DisCo only collected N12.56 billion out of N21.03 billion.
Abuja DisCo is close behind, having received N24.82 billion out of N32.61 billion, while Eko DisCo collected N36.01 billion from N42.03 billion of electricity bills issued.
Ibadan DisCo received N21.84 billion out of N29.57 billion, while Benin DisCo received N17.53 billion from N23.24 billion electricity bills issued to consumers.
The factsheet also shows that Jos DisCo collected N4.3 billion out of N10.02 billion, Kaduna DisCo received N3.06 billion out of N7.75 billion, and Aba Power collected N2.43 billion out of N5.79 billion.
Enugu DisCo received N13.85 billion out of N17.33 billion in electricity bills issued, and Kano DisCo got N7.08 billion out of N12.47 billion, while Yola DisCo received N2.34 billion out of N4.33 billion issued.
Recall that in Q4, 2024, DisCos had an outstanding N148.6 billion uncollected electricity bills.
Revenue collection declines in January 2025
DailyTrust reports that overall, the revenue collection in January 2025 declined by 3.29% from what was recorded the previous month.
The rising debts compound an already dicey situation for the distribution companies and the generation companies.
Recall that the federal government owes DisCos and GenCos over N4 trillion in subsidy payments, and just recently added another N472 billion to that debt.
Source: Getty Images
Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, has repeatedly bemoaned the huge debt impeding the stability and growth of Nigeria’s power sector.
Adelabu noted that with over N4 trillion total debts, it becomes nearly impossible for the DisCos and GenCos to service, maintain, or upgrade their infrastructure.
Electricity consumers refuse to pay N148 billion in Q4, 2024
In related news by Legit.ng, electricity consumers in Nigeria owed N148.6 billion in electricity bills in Q4, 2024.
The NERC report shows that out of N658.4 billion billed for electricity bills in the quarter, only N509.8 billion were collected.
While this performance leaves much to be desired, it was an improvement on the previous quarter, where they collected N466.6 billion out of N626 billion electricity bills.
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Source: Legit.ng
