Nigeria’s electricity distribution companies (DisCos) transferred a total of ₦381.29 billion to the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc (NBET) and the Market Operator (MO) during the third quarter of 2025. This figure represents a slight decline from the previous quarter, even as revenue from customers improved.
According to the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), the DisCos faced a combined upstream invoice of ₦400.48 billion. This included ₦323.70 billion in adjusted generation costs from NBET and ₦76.77 billion in transmission and administrative fees from the MO. After remittances, an outstanding balance of ₦19.18 billion remained.
The Q3 2025 report indicates an overall remittance rate of 95.21%, down marginally from 95.65% in Q2. This occurred despite a 4.04% drop in the total invoice (from ₦417.35 billion).
NERC stated: “The remittance performance of 95.21 per cent indicates that while liquidity in the market remains relatively strong, there is still a consistent backlog that needs to be cleared to sustain upstream obligations.”
Of the remitted amount, ₦308.25 billion went to NBET for generation costs, and ₦73.03 billion to the MO for transmission and related services.
Improved billing and collections drove these results. DisCos issued bills totaling ₦706.61 billion against energy worth ₦854.53 billion, achieving a billing efficiency of 82.69% (up from 81.61% in Q2). They collected ₦570.25 billion, boosting collection efficiency to 80.70% from 76.07% previously—a gain of 4.63 percentage points.
However, NERC noted that these collection improvements did not fully boost upstream remittances.
High Aggregate Technical, Commercial, and Collection (ATC&C) losses continue to strain market liquidity. The average ATC&C loss across the 11 DisCos was 33.27% in Q3, exceeding the 2025 Multi-Year Tariff Order benchmark of 20.54% by 12.73 points. This equated to ₦108.75 billion in unrecovered revenue.
NERC warned: “The sustained under-performance of several DisCos on ATC&C remains a key risk to full market settlement, even in quarters where headline remittance performance exceeds 95 per cent.”
The report also highlights poor remittance from international bilateral customers. They paid only $7.125 million out of $18.69 million invoiced (38.09%), while domestic bilateral customers achieved 87.61% (₦3.19 billion out of ₦3.64 billion).
NERC emphasized that better compliance across all customers, alongside ongoing federal subsidies covering about 59% of generation costs via frozen tariffs, is essential for stabilizing cash flows in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry.
