Nigeria's electricity distribution companies have reported improved revenue collection and recovery efficiency, according to the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission's July 2026 Commercial Performance Factsheet. The 11 distribution companies received electricity valued at N333.94 billion during the month, an increase of 5.77% compared with June. This growth in electricity supply is a positive development for the industry.
Despite an increase in electricity supplied, the distribution companies' ability to bill customers for electricity decreased. Only N250.79 billion worth of the electricity supplied was billed to customers, representing a 4.19% increase in total billings. Consequently, the industry's billing efficiency declined by 1.14 percentage points to 75.10%. This decline suggests that distribution companies face challenges in converting electricity supplied into billable energy.
The distribution companies recorded improved revenue collection, recovering N205.53 billion from the total amount billed to customers. This development pushed the industry's collection efficiency to 81.95%, an improvement of 2.25 percentage points. Overall revenue recovery efficiency rose by 0.67 percentage points to 74.91%. The improvement in revenue collection is a positive trend for the industry.
A breakdown of the commercial performance of individual distribution companies showed significant variations. Eko Electricity Distribution Company recorded the highest recovery efficiency at 94.67%, representing an improvement of 7.62 percentage points from the previous month. The company also achieved a collection efficiency of 101.78%, making it the only distribution company to recover more revenue than the total amount billed during the period.
Other distribution companies also reported notable performances. Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company followed with a recovery efficiency of 84.95%, while Benin Electricity Distribution Company recorded 79.15%, despite a decline of 3.07 percentage points from its June performance. Yola Electricity Distribution Company recorded a recovery efficiency of 78.24%, supported by a 20.34% increase in its actual average collection per kilowatt-hour.
However, some distribution companies performed below the industry average. Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company recorded the weakest revenue recovery efficiency at 39.71%, although this represented an improvement of 2.68 percentage points over its performance in June. Jos Electricity Distribution Company also recorded a recovery efficiency of 46.27%, following a decline of 5.06 percentage points.
The July performance figures indicate that although electricity distribution companies recorded higher revenue collections, challenges persist in converting electricity supplied into billable energy and recovering the full value of electricity sold to consumers. With electricity valued at N333.94 billion received and N205.53 billion collected, the industry recorded a difference of N128.41 billion between the value of electricity supplied and revenue recovered during the month.
Key points
- Nigeria's electricity distribution companies generated N205.53 billion in revenue in July 2026.
- The industry's collection efficiency improved to 81.95% in July 2026.
- Eko Electricity Distribution Company recorded the highest recovery efficiency at 94.67%.
