{
  "id": 4743814,
  "title": "Electricity losses cost DisCos N2.47tn in six years",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/01/electricity-losses-cost-discos-n2-47tn-in-six-years",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-09-01T00:02:39.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Punch",
    "slug": "punch",
    "url": "https://punchng.com/electricity-losses-cost-discos-n2-47tn-in-six-years/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Electricity distribution companies (DisCos) in Nigeria lost or failed to bill approximately N2.47tn worth of electricity over a six-year period from 2020 to 2025, according to a report by The PUNCH. This loss represents a significant increase of about 121 per cent in the value of unbilled electricity, rising from N281.86bn in 2020 to N622.31bn in 2025. The factors contributing to this loss include meter bypasses, electricity theft, poor metering, technical losses, inaccurate meters, and inadequate customer enumeration. Despite efforts to improve billing efficiency, the absolute naira value of the gap increased because the monetary value of electricity supplied continued to rise.",
  "summary": "Meter bypass, electricity theft, poor metering and other commercial and technical losses cost Nigeria’s electricity distribution companies about N2.47tn in unbilled electricity between 2020 and 2025, The PUNCH reports. An analysis of annual reports released by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission revealed that the value of unbilled electricity rose steadily from N281.86bn in 2020 to…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Punch Nigeria",
        "title": "Electricity losses cost DisCos N2.47tn in six years",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/31/electricity-losses-cost-discos-n2-47tn-in-six-years",
        "published": "2026-08-31T23:50:39.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}