Nigeria’s electricity distribution companies (DisCos) recorded combined losses of N2.349 trillion over the past two years, driven by persistent billing inefficiencies and weak revenue collection, worsening an already fragile liquidity crisis across the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI).

Data from the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) show that DisCos posted N1.015 trillion in losses in 2024. That figure climbed 31.4 percent to N1.334 trillion in 2025, bringing the two-year cumulative total to N2.349 trillion.

Billing inefficiencies alone accounted for N649.87 billion of the 2025 losses, while collection failures contributed N684.28 billion.

The losses arrived on top of an estimated N6 trillion in sector-wide debt as of December 2025, leaving thermal power plants struggling to secure the gas supply needed to sustain generation.

Grid output falls, rolling blackouts return

Power supply on the national grid has dropped from an average of 4,600 megawatts recorded in 2025 to below 3,500MW in the first two months of 2026.

Generation companies (GenCos) are owed more than N6 trillion, forcing plants to operate below capacity or shut down units intermittently.

Gas suppliers have scaled back deliveries because of unpaid invoices, compounding the generation shortfall.

The result is a nationwide resurgence of load shedding. Several states now receive fewer than 12 hours of electricity daily, with some areas getting as little as four to six hours.

Abuja districts including Karu and Lokogoma receive barely three hours per day, while communities across Delta State within the Benin Electricity Distribution Company franchise report persistent outages lasting days with no official communication.

Presidential Villa exits national grid amid operator backlash

The Presidential Villa has commenced plans to exit the national grid following completion of a N17 billion solar hybrid power project designed to guarantee uninterrupted electricity at the seat of government.

Acting Managing Director of the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC), Engr. Chijoke Okwuokenye, criticized the move, arguing that grid-based solutions were available.

“Technology has evolved so much that it is very possible to provide uninterrupted, reliable power with at most a little premium that is still far cheaper than diesel generation,” he said.

Chairman of the Electricity Consumers Association of Nigeria, Chijoke James, accused DisCos of exploiting consumers through estimated billing.

“The outrageous bills issued to customers are the main reason many resist payment. No one is willing to pay for electricity not supplied,” he said.

Power sector lawyer and lead consultant at Sage Consulting, Bode Fadipe, attributed the crisis partly to inadequate metering.

“Once a customer has no meter, any billing method becomes presumptive and inherently inaccurate,” he said, adding that comprehensive metering across the electricity value chain remains the only credible solution.

Fadipe also warned that DisCos continue to expect government bailouts rather than implementing structural reforms.

“Sector operators are behaving the way they are behaving because they hold the view, rightly or wrongly, that the federal government will always provide a bailout for an ailing sector,” he said.