Metering, Billing Fuel 708,677 Electricity Complaints In 12 Months

…Port Harcourt, Ibadan, Kano DisCos Record Highest Cases

Electricity consumers lodged a total of 708,677 complaints directly with electricity distribution companies (DisCos) in 2025, according to a breakdown of the four quarterly reports obtained from the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).

The analysis of the four quarterly reports by THE WHISTLER showed that complaints steadily declined throughout the year, falling from 254,404 in the first quarter to 227,267 in the second quarter, 168,033 in the third quarter, and 58,973 in the fourth quarter.

The decline coincided with the gradual transfer of electricity regulatory oversight from NERC to state electricity regulatory commissions following the implementation of the Electricity Act 2023.

This connotes that customer complaint data from states that had exited the national regulator were no longer captured in subsequent reports.

According to the Commission, 254,404 complaints were received by DisCos in the first quarter of 2025, representing a 7.72 per cent decline from the 275,681 complaints recorded in the preceding quarter.

It stated that Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company recorded the highest number of complaints during the period with 57,843, accounting for 22.74 per cent of the total, while Yola DisCo received the least with 2,495 complaints.

NERC said metering issues accounted for 42.84 per cent of all complaints received in the quarter, followed by billing complaints at 12.27 per cent and service interruptions at 7.66 per cent.

According to the Commission, the three categories represented 62.77 per cent of all customer complaints.

In the second quarter, the number of complaints lodged with DisCos dropped further to 227,267, representing a 10.67 per cent decline from the first quarter.

According to the reports, Port Harcourt DisCo again recorded the highest complaints with 44,012, while Yola DisCo remained the least with 2,189 complaints.

During the period under review, metering remained the dominant issue, accounting for 47.69 per cent of complaints, followed by billing at 19.31 per cent and service interruption at 8.57 per cent.

It added that the three issues made up 75.57 per cent of complaints received during the quarter.

NERC stated that the third quarter witnessed another decline, with complaints falling to 168,033, representing a 26.06 per cent reduction from the previous quarter.

The Commission attributed part of the drop to the transfer of regulatory oversight to nine states, namely: Edo, Ekiti, Enugu, Imo, Kogi, Lagos, Ogun, Ondo and Oyo, which were no longer covered in NERC’s complaint statistics.

It explained that Ibadan DisCo recorded the highest number of complaints at 40,520, while Yola DisCo recorded the lowest with 2,603.

According to NERC, metering complaints remained the leading issue at 43.18 per cent, followed by billing complaints at 20.93 per cent and service interruptions at 8.62 per cent, jointly accounting for 72.73 per cent of all complaints.

By the fourth quarter, complaints received by DisCos had plunged to 58,973, representing a 63.05 per cent decline from the third quarter.

NERC explained that by the end of 2025, regulatory oversight had been transferred to 15 states, namely: Abia, Anambra, Bayelsa, Edo, Ekiti, Enugu, Imo, Kogi, Lagos, Niger, Nasarawa, Ogun, Ondo, Oyo and Plateau.

According to the Commission, complaint data from those states were excluded from the report.

It stated further that Kano DisCo recorded the highest number of complaints during the quarter with 21,546, representing 36.53 per cent of the total, while Yola DisCo received the fewest with 2,101 complaints.

NERC explained that metering remained the most common complaint, accounting for 43.89 per cent.

It was followed by billing complaints at 14.14 per cent and service interruptions at 11.11 per cent.

The three complaint categories accounted for 69.14 per cent of all complaints received.

According to the reports, the Commission also reported steady improvement in the resolution of complaints lodged directly with its Customer Complaint Unit (CCU).

It stated that the resolution rate rose from 37.27 per cent in the first quarter to 45.63 per cent in the second quarter, 62.30 per cent in the third quarter, before reaching 76.96 per cent in the fourth quarter.

Despite the improvement in complaint resolution, the reports indicate that metering deficiencies, disputed billing and persistent service interruptions remained the biggest issues confronting electricity consumers throughout 2025.