Nigeria’s electricity distribution companies (DisCos) installed 225,631 meters in the second quarter of 2025, indicating a 20.55 per cent increase from the 187,161 meters deployed in the first quarter, according to the latest report by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).
According to the commission’s second quarter 2025 report, of the total installations, 147,823 meters (65.52 per cent) were provided under the Meter Asset Provider (MAP) framework, 65,315 through the Meter Acquisition Fund (MAF) scheme, 12,259 via the Vendor Financed model, and just 234 under the DisCo Financed scheme.
Despite the progress, NERC revealed that as of June 2025, only 6.42 million out of 11.82 million registered customers in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) had been metered, a national metering rate of 54.33 per cent. This means nearly half of electricity users remain unmetered and continue to face estimated billing.
To protect these customers, NERC said it continues to enforce the monthly energy cap policy, which limits how much energy unmetered customers can be billed based on actual consumption patterns of metered users on the same feeder.
Read also: DisCos collect N564bn in Q2 2025 – NERC
Meanwhile, customer complaints across DisCos declined during the quarter. NERC’s report showed that 227,267 complaints were recorded in Q2, down 10.67% from 254,404 in Q1.
However, at NERC’s Central Complaint Unit (CCU), only 1,129 of 2,474 complaints were resolved, a 45.63% resolution rate, which the regulator described as unsatisfactory.
Most complaints related to metering, billing, and service interruptions, consistent with previous trends.
The report also noted that two Forum Offices were shut down during the quarter, reducing active offices to 24. Out of 1,418 active appeals (including 1,040 new cases), the panels resolved 958, achieving a 67.56 per cent resolution rate, down from 74.10 per cent in Q1.
In April, NERC penalised eight DisCos, Abuja (AEDC), Ikeja (IKEDC), Eko (EKEDC), Enugu (EEDC), Jos (JEDC), Kaduna Electric, Kano (KEDCO), and Yola (YEDC), for violating the energy cap on estimated billing for unmetered customers.
The Commission imposed fines totalling over N628 million and directed the companies to issue credit adjustments to affected customers. The penalties, however, sparked mixed reactions among electricity consumers and power sector experts.
