Nigeria’s electricity grid is short of $8.5 million, a deficit caused by unpaid bills from three power companies from neighbouring West African countries.
The companies are Togo’s Compagnie Energie Electrique du Togo (CEET), Benin Republic’s Société Béninoise d’Énergie Électrique (SBEE) and Niger’s Nigerian Electricity Company (NIGELEC).
According to the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) latest quarterly report for the second quarter (Q2) of 2025, electricity companies in Benin Republic, Togo, and Niger failed to fully settle their purchases from Nigeria’s generation companies (GenCos).
The total invoice issued to these international bilateral customers amounted to $17.54 million. However, they only managed a combined payment of $9.015 million, resulting in a low remittance rate of just 51.33%.
This persistent issue of non-payment from Nigeria’s neighbours continues to strain the finances of the nation’s power sector and undermines the stability of the entire electricity market.
The largest non-payer is Togo’s Compagnie Energie Electrique du Togo (CEET), which failed to make any payment on its $4.31 million electricity bill for the quarter.
Benin Republic’s Société Béninoise d’Énergie Électrique (SBEE), a customer of Transcorp and Paras Energy, paid $6.42 million but still has an outstanding balance on its $9.52 million invoice while Niger’s Nigerian Electricity Company (NIGELEC) was the most compliant, paying $2.59 million out of its $3.71 million bill.
Domestic power debtors add to the strain
The issue of non-payment isn’t limited to international customers. Domestic power users are also struggling to remit funds.
The report noted that domestic bilateral customers paid only N1.401 billion against an invoice of N2.79 billion, a remittance rate of about 50%.
A major headache for the sector is the debt held by the Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited and its host community. They failed to make any payment from the N1.27 billion invoice from the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading (NBET) Plc and an additional N0.12 billion (MO) invoices received in 2025/Q2.
NERC stated that this non‑payment by Ajaokuta is a long‑running trend and has called for intervention from relevant Federal Government authorities.
While one domestic customer, Trans‑Amadi (OAU/FMPI), did clear some N10.53 million in outstanding bills from previous quarters, the overall debt continues to strain the finances of Nigeria’s power generation sector.
The Nigerian government faces the pressing challenge of ensuring its neighbours, and key domestic entities honour their financial obligations to maintain the stability and viability of its electricity grid.
Progress on Metering and Complaints
Despite the financial challenges, Nigeria’s power sector made notable strides in addressing customer issues during Q2 2025.
Electricity distribution companies (DisCos) installed 225,631 meters, marking a substantial 20.55% increase from the previous quarter. The majority of these meters were deployed under the Meter Asset Provider (MAP) and the Meter Acquisition Fund (MAF) schemes.
However, NERC notes that the national metering rate stands at 54.33%, meaning nearly half of the 11.82 million registered customers are still unmetered.
To protect these customers from excessive charges, NERC continues to enforce the monthly energy cap policy to limit estimated billing.
The total number of customer complaints recorded across all DisCos declined by 10.67%, dropping from 254,404 in Q1 to 227,267 in Q2.
While this reduction is positive, the NERC expressed dissatisfaction with the resolution rate at its Central Complaint Unit (CCU), where only 1,129 out of 2,474 complaints were resolved (45.63%). The main issues for consumers remain consistent: metering, billing, and service interruptions.
The report also noted that two Forum Offices were shut down during the quarter, reducing active offices to 24.
Out of 1,418 active appeals (including 1,040 new cases), the panel resolved 958, achieving a 67.56 per cent resolution rate, down from 74.10 per cent in Q1.
In April, NERC penalised eight DisCos, Abuja (AEDC), Ikeja (IKEDC), Eko (EKEDC), Enugu (EEDC), Jos (JEDC), Kaduna Electric, Kano (KEDCO), and Yola (YEDC), for violating the energy cap on estimated billing for unmetered customers.
The Commission imposed fines of over N628 million and directed the companies to issue credit adjustments to affected customers.