The Lagos State Government has moved to criminalize the supply of electricity without meters to consumers, escalating regulatory pressure on distribution companies as the state grappled with an estimated 11,000-megawatt supply deficit that left nearly 94 percent of demand unmet during the review period.
The maiden 2025 Lagos Electricity Market Report released by the Lagos State Electricity Regulatory Commission disclosed that while Lagos had an estimated electricity demand of approximately 12,000 megawatts, average grid supply to the state remained below 1,000 megawatts during the 2024 to 2025 review period, with Lagos receiving an average allocation of only 930 megawatts from the national grid in the third quarter of 2025 despite Nigeria’s installed generation capacity of 13,625 megawatts.
The report drew attention to Section 89(2) of the Lagos Electricity Law, which criminalized the supply of electricity without meters, and announced that active enforcement of this provision would commence in 2026 in line with the strategic implementation plan’s metering timeline. Universal smart metering was expected to be implemented on a feeder-by-feeder basis across the state.
The huge supply deficit had forced Lagos residents and businesses to rely heavily on self-generation, with the state estimated to host over 40 percent of Nigeria’s informal off-grid generation capacity. Nigeria was said to operate between 22 million and 25 million small-scale generators nationwide representing an estimated 10,000 to 15,000 megawatts of informal generation capacity.
Service delivery by the two newly licensed distribution companies, Excel Electricity Distribution Limited and IE Energy Lagos Limited, successor entities to the former Eko and Ikeja distribution companies, fell significantly below regulatory standards. In Band A, where consumers were entitled to a minimum of 20 hours of daily supply, Excel achieved only 33.8 percent compliance while IE Energy recorded just 20 percent compliance. Complaint resolution rates by both utilities collectively stood at 59.37 percent between January and June 2025, well below the commission’s 90 percent benchmark.
To close the supply gap, Lagos said it was pursuing a long-term electricity strategy built around renewable energy, embedded generation, smart metering, and off-grid solutions, while planning to implement cost-reflective tariffs without direct government subsidies alongside a lifeline tariff for low-income consumers.
