About 4.7 million electricity customers in Nigeria remained without meters as of August 2026, despite distribution companies installing 141,746 meters during the month, according to the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission.
The regulator’s metering factsheet, issued on Wednesday, showed that the number of active electricity customers rose to 12.75 million in August from 12.67 million in July, while the number of metered customers increased from 7.90 million to 8.05 million.
The figures represent a national metering rate of 63.10 per cent in August, up from 62.37 per cent in July. However, the increase means that more than one-third of active customers were still without meters, leaving millions of households and businesses dependent on other billing arrangements.
The latest figures also showed that the pace of metering slowed in August. Distribution companies installed 141,746 meters during the month, 18,234 fewer than the 159,980 installed in July, representing an 11.4 per cent decline.
The development highlights the continuing challenge facing the electricity distribution companies as the regulator pursues efforts to close the metering gap, improve billing transparency and strengthen revenue collection in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry.
A breakdown of the August figures showed that Eko Electricity Distribution Company recorded the highest metering rate at 89.64 per cent, followed by Ikeja with 87.74 per cent and Abuja with 82.62 per cent.
Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company recorded a metering rate of 71 per cent, becoming the fourth distribution company to reach the 70 per cent threshold in August.
Benin recorded 64.41 per cent, while Ibadan achieved 59.23 per cent and Enugu 52.40 per cent.
Four distribution companies remained below the 50 per cent threshold used by NERC to classify metering performance as poor. Kano recorded 42.84 per cent, Kaduna 42.32 per cent, Yola 39.15 per cent, and Jos 37.60 per cent.
Jos had the lowest metering rate among the 11 distribution companies, with only 312,253 of its 830,504 active customers metered. Yola had 201,303 metered customers out of 514,122, while Kaduna had 236,844 out of 559,658.
Ibadan had the largest customer base, with 2.57 million active customers, of whom 1.52 million had meters. Abuja had 1.43 million active customers and 1.18 million metered customers.
Although Eko maintained the highest metering rate, its customer base was much smaller, with 618,880 of its 690,408 active customers metered.
NERC classifies distribution companies with metering rates below 50 per cent as red, those between 50 and 69 per cent as amber, and those with rates of at least 70 per cent as green.
Beyond reporting the figures, the commission’s factsheet outlined customer protections covering meter installation, estimated billing, disconnection, repairs and dispute resolution.
Under the Meter Asset Provider scheme, customers who pay upfront for meters are entitled to installation within 10 days of full payment. The commission also stated that customers who pay for meters under the scheme must receive full reimbursement through energy credits, generated each month automatically and spread over 120 months.
The factsheet added that meters supplied under the Meter Acquisition Fund and the World Bank-backed Distribution Sector Recovery Programme are provided at no cost to customers.
On faulty meters, NERC said electricity distribution companies must repair or replace a meter within 48 hours of a customer reporting the fault.