DisCos collect N603.64bn as second-quarter electricity offtake falls

Nigeria’s electricity distribution companies collected N603.64bn from customers in the second quarter of 2026, despite receiving less power from the market, according to the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission’s quarterly report. Average energy offtake at the DisCos’ trading points fell to 3,197.03 megawatt-hours per hour, down 112.45MWh/h, or 3.40 per cent, from the 3,309.48MWh/h recorded in the first quarter. The companies nevertheless achieved an overall offtake performance of 94.07 per cent against available partially contracted capacity of 3,398.41MWh/h.

They received 6,982.32 gigawatt-hours during the quarter but billed customers for 5,812.31GWh. NERC said this represented energy accounting efficiency of 83.24 per cent, a 0.24 percentage-point decline from the first quarter. The value of electricity taken by the DisCos was N946.57bn, while energy billed to customers was valued at N744.67bn, producing billing efficiency of 78.67 per cent.

Collection efficiency improved to 81.06 per cent from 78.95 per cent in the first quarter. The DisCos collected N603.64bn from the amount billed, leaving a difference of N141.03bn. Aggregate technical, commercial and collection losses stood at 36.23 per cent, 19.31 percentage points above the 16.92 per cent target under the 2026 MYTO.

NERC put the resulting cumulative revenue loss at N129.07bn, although losses improved from 37.44 per cent in the first quarter. All 11 DisCos missed their targets, with Kaduna recording the largest underperformance. The DisCos’ upstream invoices totalled N410.38bn, while remittances reached N385.44bn, leaving N24.94bn outstanding.

The report said the Federal Government covered about half of total generation costs, or N321.26bn, through subsidies linked to frozen end-use tariffs.