The country’s power sector lost an estimated N2.61 billion to electricity transmission losses in the first quarter of 2026.
This is according to details in the first-quarter report of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).
The report showed that the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) failed to meet the loss target set by the commission and that the Transmission Loss Factor rose above the regulatory benchmark, meaning a share of electricity generated never reached electricity distribution companies and other off-takers.
The Transmission Loss Factor refers to the proportion of the total energy generated by power plants that was either lost during transmission or utilised at transmission stations, meaning it was neither delivered to DisCos nor exported to international customers.
NERC said there is an inverse relationship between the TLF and the efficiency of the transmission system, noting that a decline in the TLF indicates an improvement in transmission efficiency over a given period.
The report showed that the N2.61 billion cost comprised N257.91 million attributable to transmission loss factor losses and N2.35 billion in penalties payable to power generation companies.
It noted that the figure excluded service level agreement penalties that TCN may have incurred due to under-delivery to distribution companies.
NERC said the estimated loss was lower than the N3.13 billion recorded in the fourth quarter of 2025.
According to the report, the average Transmission Loss Factor recorded during the review period stood at 7.96 per cent, exceeding the Multi-Year Tariff Order target of 7.00 per cent.
The commission said, “The average TLF in 2026/Q1 was 7.96 per cent. A TLF of 7.96 per cent indicates that for every 100 megawatt-hours of energy injected into the grid, 7.96MWh of energy is undelivered to DisCos and international customers, due to losses in the transmission network or consumption at the transmission substations.”
NERC noted that the performance worsened compared with the previous quarter. It said, “The TLF recorded in 2026/Q1 represents a 0.69 percentage point increase relative to the 7.27 per cent recorded in 2025/Q4.”
The regulator added that the transmission company also failed to meet the benchmark established under the tariff framework. According to the report, “The 7.96 per cent TLF recorded in 2026/Q1 represents an underperformance of 0.96 percentage points relative to the MYTO target for 2026 (7.00 per cent).”
The commission explained that exceeding the allowable transmission loss has direct financial implications because the excess losses cannot be recovered from electricity consumers.
