Active electricity customers rose to 11.96 million in August – NERC

The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission has revealed that the total number of active electricity customers nationwide increased from 11.89 million in July to 11.96 million in August 2025.

This was disclosed in the commission’s latest Metering Factsheet for July and August 2025 posted on its official X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram handles on Monday.

The commission explained that the updated active customer data covers all 11 electricity distribution companies in the country.

NERC stated, “Out of these, 6.58 million customers were metered, resulting in a metering rate of 55.01%, up slightly from 54.71% in July.

A total of 70,888 customers were newly metered in August, compared to 76,783 in July, reflecting ongoing metering efforts across the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI).”

It attributed the improved metering figures to the ongoing reforms and investments in customer management by DisCos aimed at enhancing billing transparency and consumer trust.

Recall that Eko, Ikeja, and Abuja DisCos were ranked among the top performers in metering coverage nationwide.

Eko Electricity Distribution Company achieved a metering coverage of 84.25 per cent, closely followed by Ikeja Electric with 84.83 per cent, while Abuja Electricity Distribution Company recorded 73.92 per cent.

In April, NERC sanctioned eight distribution companies, Abuja, Ikeja, Eko, Enugu, Jos, Kaduna, Kano, and Yola, for violating the approved monthly energy caps applied to estimated billing of unmetered customers.

The affected DisCos were collectively fined more than ₦628 million. Alongside the financial penalties, the commission also instructed them to credit the accounts of all impacted customers accordingly.

In a separate development, NERC revealed that a total of 225,631 meters were installed across the country in the second quarter of 2025 — a 20.55 per cent increase from the 187,161 installed in the first quarter.

The Q2 2025 data further showed that 147,823 meters (65.52 per cent) were rolled out under the Meter Asset Provider initiative, 65,315 units through the Meter Acquisition Fund, 12,259 via vendor financing, and 234 under the DisCo-financed scheme.