On 25 August 2026, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC or the Commission) published its 2025 Annual Report on the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI). It did so under section 56(1) of the Electricity Act 2023. The NERC 2025 Annual Report shows meaningful progress alongside persistent structural challenges.
Many readers may not have time to read the full report. In this article, we therefore summarise it and compare 2025 with 2024. Our aim is to show how far the NESI has grown, or stalled, over the year.
Generation in the NERC 2025 Annual Report
Twenty-eight grid-connected plants dispatched electricity in 2025. They comprised 23 gas-fired thermal plants and five hydropower plants. No new plant joined the grid during the year. By December 2025, the Commission had licensed 30 operational plants with a combined nameplate capacity of 14,039MW.
Total generation reached 39,208.68GWh, up from 37,093.70GWh in 2024. Average hourly generation rose to 4,475.88MWh/h. Hydropower contributed 32.66% of the total.
However, the plant availability factor stood at only 39.62%. In other words, more than 60% of installed capacity stayed unavailable throughout the year. The 2024 figure was 37.43%. Average available capacity rose from 4,853.69MW to 5,398.33MW.
The report blames ageing plants, liquidity constraints and unreliable gas supply. Notably, only five of the 23 thermal plants had firm gas supply arrangements by December 2025. As a result, adding installed capacity alone will not guarantee reliable power.
Transmission and Grid Stability
Grid stability showed the biggest gain. The grid collapsed twice in 2025, once partially and once totally. In 2024, it collapsed nine times. The Commission restored the total collapse of 10 September 2025 within 28 minutes. A failed circuit breaker on a Benin-Onitsha 330kV line caused the partial collapse on 29 December 2025.
Even so, frequency and voltage remained outside the Grid Code’s normal limits. Average daily frequency ranged from 49.33Hz to 50.74Hz. That range is narrower than the 1.55Hz range of 2024. Continued investment in grid resilience therefore remains necessary.
Metering, Billing and Collection
In April 2025, the Commission rebased the customer register to reflect only active customers. By December 2025, 6,966,584 of 12,163,412 active customers had meters. That is 57.27%. DisCos installed 972,040 meters during the year, compared with 572,055 in 2024.
Billing efficiency reached 81.14%, and collection efficiency reached 77.60%. Collection efficiency was 75.56% in 2024. Eko and Ikeja DisCos again led the field, helped by higher prepayment meter penetration. Kaduna DisCo recorded the lowest collection efficiency, at 45.68%.
Aggregate technical, commercial and collection (ATC&C) losses fell slightly to 37.03%, from 37.95% in 2024. Yet that figure sits well above the 20.54% target allowed under the 2025 MYTO. Only Eko DisCo beat its own target. Kaduna DisCo’s loss stood at 71.88%.
Market Remittance
Remittance performance improved markedly. DisCos paid 94.91% of their NBET invoices, against 86.47% in 2024. Eko, Ikeja and Port Harcourt DisCos paid in full. In addition, DisCos paid 94.22% of their Market Operator invoices.
Kaduna DisCo again lagged behind, with 40.13% remittance to NBET. The Commission has since dissolved its board and appointed an administrator.
Bilateral customers also paid more. Domestic bilateral customers paid 96.60% of their invoices, up from 75.30%. The three international bilateral customers paid 84.90%, up from 75.01%.
Regulatory Activity, Licensing and Enforcement
The Commission issued 512 regulatory instruments in 2025, compared with 297 in 2024. It issued 194 licences and permits, a 15.5% increase. Mini-grid permits more than doubled, from 27 to 64. Captive power permits rose from 24 to 31, and Meter Service Provider permits rose from 36 to 43.
Fines also jumped, from three in 2024 to 66 in 2025. This points to a more assertive enforcement regime. Licensees should therefore factor it into their regulatory risk assessments. In addition, the number of states that had assumed oversight of their electricity markets rose from four to 12.
Consumer Affairs and Tariffs
Consumer-facing activity contracted. The Commission held three town hall meetings, down from nine in 2024. The NERC Customer Complaints Unit resolved 46.24% of its 8,305 complaints. Billing, metering and service interruptions led the complaint categories.
Tariffs stayed frozen at July 2024 rates throughout the year. The Federal Government’s gross subsidy obligation reached N1,928.31 billion. That is 57.44% of the total NBET invoice.
Our Thoughts
The 2025 report shows a NESI that improved on several fronts without resolving its underlying fragility. Grid stability and market remittance made the strongest gains. By contrast, generation availability, distribution losses and consumer engagement still lag.
We encourage NERC to sustain its gains and prioritise a turnaround in underperforming DisCos, particularly Kaduna. We also urge greater transparency on why consumer engagement channels continue to shrink.
For earlier context, see our NERC 2024 Annual Report summary and our review of the NERC Draft Net Billing Regulations, 2025.
Click the button below to download our full summary of the NERC 2025 Annual Report.
