Nigeria’s metering rate jumps to 63% as unmetered electricity customers drop to 4.7 million

Nigeria’s electricity metering rate rose marginally to 63.1 per cent in August 2026 from 62.4 per cent in the preceding month, helping reduce customers without meters to 4.7 million, according to metering factsheet data published 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 increase, the data showed.

However, newly metered customers declined during the period, falling from 159,980 in July to 141,746 in August.

The figures indicate that although metered customers continued to grow, the pace of new installations slowed in August.

The data implies the total number of active electricity customers in the country increased from 12,671,795 in July to 12,749,789 in August.

This represents an increase of 0.6 per cent, or 77,994 customers, in the month.

Arbitrary estimated billing due to metering gaps has been a major challenge in electricity billing in Nigeria over the years.

A significant portion of registered electricity customers in Nigeria lack access to prepaid meters, forcing distribution companies to rely on estimates rather than actual consumption when calculating their bills.

Similarly, poor power supply, driven by infrastructure constraints and frequent grid collapse, continues to undermine reliable electricity supply in the country.

Joseph Tegbe, the Minister of Power, vowed, following his appointment in June, to identify power distribution, metering, transparency, and sub-national participation as key areas of intervention in the industry.

Eko and Ikeja DisCos lead metering performance

A breakdown of the 11 electricity distribution companies’ (DisCos) performance showed considerable differences in their metering rates.

Eko Electricity Distribution Company recorded the highest metering rate at 89.6 per cent in August, up from 89.3 per cent in July.

Ikeja Electric followed with a metering rate of 87.7 per cent, slightly below 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 previous month.

Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company also 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, while Ibadan DisCo improved from 58.6 per cent to 59.2 per cent.

Enugu DisCo recorded a metering rate of 52.4 per cent, slightly up from 52.1 per cent in July.

Northern DisCos record lowest rates

The factsheet showed that Jos DisCo had the lowest metering rate in August at 37.6 per cent, up from 36.5 per cent in July.

Yola DisCo followed 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, while Kano DisCo’s metering rate increased from 41.6 per cent to 42.8 per cent.

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The relatively low rates mean many customers served by these companies remain without meters.

The August figures indicate that Nigeria’s electricity metering coverage continues to improve, but progress varies across distribution companies.

While Eko, Ikeja and Abuja have metered more than 80 per cent of their active customers, Jos, Yola, Kaduna and Kano remain below 43 per cent.

The overall increase in metered customers also came alongside a rise in the number of active customers, highlighting the need for distribution companies to sustain and accelerate installations to reduce the metering gap.