The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission has instructed electricity consumers in states that now have their own electricity regulators to direct complaints on metering, billing, and related service issues to those state agencies, in line with the Electricity Act 2023.

The directive follows the ongoing decentralisation of Nigeria’s electricity market, which has shifted oversight of intrastate electricity operations to state regulators in 15 states nationwide.

In a consumer guidance statement, NERC clarified that residents in these states should no longer escalate such matters to the federal regulator.

The transition applies to 15 states that have completed the establishment of their state electricity regulatory frameworks. These include Abia, Anambra, Bayelsa, Edo, Ekiti, Enugu, Imo, Kogi, Lagos, Nasarawa, Niger, Ogun, Ondo, Oyo, and Plateau.

“Consumers in these jurisdictions should no longer direct their complaints to the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission. Instead, they are now required to engage directly with their State Electricity Regulator,” it stated.

According to the commission, the reform is intended to bring regulation closer to consumers and improve responsiveness in addressing electricity-related complaints, especially issues such as estimated billing, metering delays, and service quality.

The statement also outlined the responsibilities now transferred to state regulators, including complaints about incorrect or estimated billing, issues related to the procurement, installation, or performance of meters, reports of poor customer service from distribution companies, concerns over power supply reliability, and any other regulatory matters tied to electricity supply within the 15 states.

NERC said the reform is part of the implementation of the Electricity Act 2023, aimed at decentralising the electricity sector and improving overall governance efficiency.

The commission added that the new framework is expected to reduce response times to consumer complaints, strengthen regulatory accountability at the sub-national level, and ensure that electricity governance is better aligned with the specific needs of individual states.