Nigeria’s electricity distribution companies (DisCos) installed 225,631 meters in the second quarter of 2025, representing a 20.6 percent increase from the 187,161 units installed in the first quarter, according to the latest report by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).
NERC said 147,823 meters, accounting for 65.5 percent of the total, were installed under the Meter Asset Provider (MAP) scheme, while 65,315 were deployed through the Meter Acquisition Fund (MAF) framework. Another 12,259 came from vendor-financed projects, and 234 were installed under DisCo-financed initiatives.
Despite the improvement, only 6.42 million out of Nigeria’s 11.82 million registered electricity customers have been metered, leaving a national metering rate of 54.3 percent. Nearly half of consumers remain unmetered and continue to receive estimated bills.
To mitigate the burden on these customers, NERC said it continues to enforce the monthly energy cap policy, which limits the maximum energy units that unmetered customers can be billed for based on feeder consumption data.
The Commission also recorded a reduction in customer complaints, which dropped by 10.7 percent from 254,404 in the first quarter to 227,267 in the second quarter. Most complaints were related to metering, billing, and service interruptions.
At the same time, resolution rates declined, as only 1,129 of the 2,474 cases received at NERC’s Central Complaint Unit were resolved — a 45.6 percent success rate. Similarly, 958 appeals were resolved at forum panels across 24 active offices, marking a 67.6 percent resolution rate, lower than the previous quarter’s 74.1 percent.
Earlier in April, NERC sanctioned eight DisCos — including Abuja, Ikeja, Eko, Enugu, Jos, Kaduna, Kano, and Yola — with a combined fine of over N628 million for violating energy caps imposed on estimated billing. Each was also ordered to issue credit adjustments to affected customers.
