Electricity meter installations hit 357,495 in Q1 2026, highest deployment in five quarters

Nigeria’s electricity distribution companies (DisCos) installed 357,495 electricity meters in the first quarter of 2026, representing the highest deployment recorded in the past five quarters as efforts to close the country’s metering gap gathered pace.

The figures are contained in the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) First Quarter 2026 Report.

The increase was largely driven by the Federal Government’s Distribution Sector Recovery Program (DISREP), which accounted for more than one-third of all meter installations during the quarter.

What the report is saying

NERC reported that 357,495 end-user customers were metered across the 11 electricity distribution companies during the first quarter of 2026.

• Benin and Abuja DisCos recorded the highest number of meter installations, accounting for 20.35% and 14.08% of total deployments, respectively.
• Meter installations increased by 10.38% from 323,864 recorded in the fourth quarter of 2025, with eight DisCos posting improvements during the period. Kaduna DisCo recorded the highest increase of 119.53%, while Kano, Enugu and Abuja DisCos recorded declines of 94.81%, 89.48% and 10.42%, respectively.
• Of the total meters installed, 129,224 (36.14%) were deployed under the Distribution Sector Recovery Program (DISREP), 118,681 (33.19%) under the Meter Asset Provider (MAP) scheme, 97,992 (27.41%) through the Meter Acquisition Fund (MAF), 10,589 (2.96%) under the DisCo-financed framework and 1,009 (0.28%) under the Vendor-financed framework.

The regulator noted that DISREP has become the largest metering intervention in the sector, significantly accelerating meter deployment across electricity distribution companies.

More Insights

An analysis by Nairametrics shows that the first quarter of 2026 recorded the highest quarterly meter deployment in the past five quarters, extending the steady recovery in metering activities.

• Q1 2026: 357,495 electricity meters installed.
• Q4 2025: 323,864 electricity meters installed.
• Q3 2025: 228,614 electricity meters installed.
• Q2 2025: 225,631 electricity meters installed.
• Q1 2025: 187,161 electricity meters installed.

NERC said the Distribution Sector Recovery Program is a Federal Government initiative supported by a $500 million World Bank facility aimed at improving the financial and technical performance of Nigeria’s electricity distribution companies while closing the country’s metering gap through the deployment of 3.2 million smart meters.

According to the commission, DISREP installations commenced in May 2025, with 217,784 meters deployed as of the end of the first quarter of 2026. During the quarter alone, 129,224 meters were installed under the programme, representing a 29.81% increase from the 99,545 deployed in the fourth quarter of 2025.

Benin DisCo led DISREP installations with 26,083 meters, followed by Abuja with 24,072 and Port Harcourt with 22,145.

What you should know

Nigeria continues to face a significant metering gap, with millions of electricity consumers still relying on estimated billing.

• Metering remains one of NERC’s key reform priorities to improve billing transparency, reduce commercial losses and strengthen revenue collection across the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI).
• The Meter Asset Provider (MAP) scheme allows approved private vendors to provide prepaid meters to customers, while the Meter Acquisition Fund (MAF) was introduced to accelerate meter deployment through central funding.

DISREP is expected to deploy 3.2 million smart meters nationwide as part of broader electricity sector reforms backed by the World Bank.