NERC says 148,000 Electricity Customers Metered in May, June

The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) says 148,077 electricity customers were metered nationwide between May and June 2025, pushing the country’s metering rate slightly above 54 per cent.

Figures from the commission’s latest Metering Status of Distribution Companies factsheet show that 63,180 customers received meters in May, while 84,897 were metered in June. This brought the total number of metered customers to 6,422,933 out of 11.8 million active electricity users across the country.

With the installations, Nigeria’s national metering rate inched up from 53.78 per cent in May to 54.33 per cent by June.

By distribution company performance, Ikeja DisCo led with a metering rate of 84.65 per cent, followed closely by Eko at 83.33 per cent and Abuja at 73.06 per cent. At the bottom, Yola DisCo had just 28.55 per cent of its customers metered, while Jos and Kaduna recorded 29.51 per cent and 33.46 per cent, respectively.

Aba DisCo was the most improved, raising its metering rate from 37.88 per cent in May to 45.17 per cent in June after installing 12,376 new meters. Benin DisCo also crossed the halfway mark, moving from 49.95 per cent to 50.33 per cent.

Despite this progress, NERC noted that seven of the 12 DisCos still have fewer than half of their customers on meters, leaving millions dependent on estimated billing, a practice long criticised by consumers as unfair.

The regulator said it would continue enforcing monthly energy caps for unmetered customers to limit arbitrary billing. These caps are designed to ensure that unmetered customers are billed based on the feeder’s actual energy consumption and the usage profile of metered users.

NERC warned that DisCos found violating the caps or overbilling customers would continue to face sanctions.