Regulator Orders Disco to Refund 20,000 Electricity Customers for Overbilling, Sets Deadline

• The issue of overbilling has remained a contentious one between electricity consumers and distributors in Nigeria
• This is more prevalent in areas where customers are still on the postpaid plan and have to await the estimated bills from the Discos
• The Enugu electricity regulator has uncovered several cases of overbilling and given the disco directives to refund all affected customers within 60 days

Legit.ng journalist Ruth Okwumbu-Imafidon has over a decade of experience in business reporting across digital and mainstream media.

There is jubilation among electricity consumers in Enugu State as the regulator has taken action on several complaints of overbilling.

The Enugu State Electricity Regulatory Commission (EERC) has issued a directive ordering MainPower Electricity Distribution Company to refund over 20,000 customers who were overbilled in April 2025.

The regulator issued a notice on 30 May 2025, stating that it had conducted a comprehensive investigation into the disco’s billing practices and discovered a worrisome number of billing violations.

Regulator uncovers Disco billing violations

The notice, signed by Chijioke Okonkwo, the EERC’s chairman, and Reuben Okoye, its commissioner in charge of market operations, disclosed that the billing violations had risen notably in recent times.

The regulator focused on the irregularities discovered in the month of April 2025 and ordered the disco to refund the customers the overbilled units for the month under review.

The Disco has until the end of the July 2025 billing cycle to complete the refunds, as there will be penalties for failure to comply.

The Enugu state regulator explained that it had been monitoring the disco’s billing practices since October 2024, amid several complaints from customers.

It had also sent multiple letters of warning to the disco, calling attention to the observed irregularities, but no action was taken.

The notice read:

“The commission recently reviewed MainPower’s April 2025 estimated report, and observed that the degree of violation of the caps on estimated billing by MainPower had further deteriorated from the 24% observed in February and March 2025, to 34% in April 2025.”

It added that the issues raised in the commission’s letter dated 16 December were not addressed in the response from the disco.

"The commission hereby orders the following enforcement actions against MainPower:

i. That MainPower shall refund the equivalent number of energy units in the April 2025 overbill to the affected customers;

ii. That MainPower shall refund the overbilled energy units to the affected customers within the June 2025 billing cycle, but not later than the July 2025 billing cycle."

Customers who do not receive their refunds by the expiration of the deadline have been urged to send an email to the regulator at info@eerc.en.gov.ng or call 09122642755 for assistance.

Regulator lists penalties for non-compliance

The EERC notice added that non-compliance will attract a daily fine of N500,000 for every day after the deadline, as stated in the Enugu State Electricity Law 2023.

In effecting the refund, MainPower is expected to introduce a line item on their estimated billing termed “overbill”, and indicate the units of energy being refunded to affected customers.

The units would then be netted off the current month’s estimated energy consumption so that the customers only have to pay the balance.

The regulator has also published the list of affected customers on its website.

NERC transfers regulatory powers to state agencies

Between April and August 2024, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) transferred oversight of the electricity market in different states to the resident agencies of the respective states.

These states include Enugu State, where the Enugu Electricity Regulatory Commission (EERC) was empowered to take over regulation in the state.

Others include Ondo, Ekiti, Lagos, and Imo states.

NERC fines Abuja Disco N1.69 billion for overbilling

In related news, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has approved a fine of N1.69bn against Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC).

Legit.ng reported that the fine was imposed because of AEDC's non-compliance with the order to cap estimated billings.

NERC said the money was deducted from AEDC’s annual operating expenditure for the infraction.

Source: Legit.ng