The Federal Government installed 707,765 electricity meters across Nigeria in the first half of 2026, representing a 71% increase from the 412,792 meters installed in the corresponding period of 2025.
The figure, based on quarterly data from the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission reviewed by Nairametrics on October 2, 2026, means 294,973 more meters were installed in the first six months of 2026 than in the same period last year.
NERC’s data showed that 357,495 meters were installed in the first quarter of 2026, while another 350,270 were installed in the second quarter. In the corresponding quarters of 2025, installations stood at 187,161 and 225,631 respectively.
The second-quarter installations included 205,486 meters under the Distribution Sector Recovery Programme, 123,833 under the Meter Asset Provider framework, 13,028 under the Meter Asset Fund, 7,643 financed by distribution companies and 280 under the vendor-financed framework, according to NERC data reported by Nairametrics on October 2, 2026.
The increase comes as authorities intensify efforts to close Nigeria’s metering gap and reduce reliance on estimated billing, which has remained a major source of disputes between electricity distribution companies and consumers.
NERC said 7,743,839 of the 12,589,486 active registered electricity customers in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry had meters by the end of June 2026, translating to a national metering rate of 61.51%. This left more than 4.8 million active customers without meters.
The latest improvement builds on the 412,792 meters installed in the first half of 2025, when the national metering rate reached 54.3%, according to NERC data reported by Tribune, July 2025.
Despite the stronger pace of installations in 2026, the remaining 4.8 million unmetered customers show that a substantial gap still exists. The continued rollout is expected to improve billing transparency, provide more accurate measurement of electricity consumption and support revenue collection across the power sector.
