AEDC Tariff Bands 2026: What Abuja Electricity Actually Costs Per Unit

Abuja Electricity Distribution Company is the DisCo most Nigerians outside Lagos have actually heard of, partly because it serves the seat of government and partly because it covers an unusually large footprint: the FCT plus Niger, Nasarawa and Kogi states. That footprint is also why the question "what is the AEDC tariff" gets answered badly online — people quote the Band A rate, which is national, and skip the bands most AEDC customers are actually on.

The short answer

Band A is ₦209.50/kWh — identical across all 11 NERC-regulated DisCos, and frozen at that level since July 2024.
Bands B–E are AEDC-specific and have been frozen since December 2022: Band B ₦63.35/kWh, Band C ₦51.79/kWh, Band D ₦33.95/kWh, Band E ₦33.95/kWh.
Any customer using 50kWh or less in a whole month pays a flat ₦4/kWh on all of it, whatever their band. That's the lifeline tariff.
On the same 200kWh, a Band A household in Maitama pays ₦41,900 and a Band D household in Nyanya pays ₦6,790 — a gap of ₦35,110 for identical electricity.

These figures come from NERC's published Multi-Year Tariff Order (MYTO) filings for AEDC, read directly from the order tables on nerc.gov.ng rather than lifted from a comparison site — a distinction that matters more than it should, because Bands B–E are where the internet's numbers go wrong.

The full AEDC band table

| Band | Guaranteed supply | AEDC rate (₦/kWh) | |---|---|---| | A | 20+ hrs/day | 209.50 | | B | 16–20 hrs/day | 63.35 | | C | 12–16 hrs/day | 51.79 | | D | 8–12 hrs/day | 33.95 | | E | 4–8 hrs/day | 33.95 |

AEDC is one of several DisCos where Bands D and E carry the same rate. That is not an error in the table — the Service-Based Tariff framework sets a floor, and for AEDC the D and E rates converge on it.

Why your bill didn't move even though NERC published a new order

NERC issues a "minor review" MYTO order for each DisCo roughly every month, and the headlines that follow them regularly imply a tariff change. Almost none of them are. The overwhelming majority of these orders only rebalance the subsidy and remittance arithmetic between the DisCo and the federal government — money moving between institutions, not a new number on your bill.

The customer-facing figures have been remarkably still: Band A at ₦209.50/kWh since July 2024, Bands B–E since December 2022. Unless AEDC has directly notified you of a change — which DisCos are required to do — assume your rate is what's in the table above.

What a ₦10,000 recharge buys

Most AEDC customers on a working meter are prepaid, so the practical question isn't the rate, it's the units. A ₦10,000 top-up:

Band A: ₦10,000 ÷ ₦209.50 ≈ 47.7 units
Band B: ₦10,000 ÷ ₦63.35 ≈ 157.9 units
Band C: ₦10,000 ÷ ₦51.79 ≈ 193.1 units
Band D / E: ₦10,000 ÷ ₦33.95 ≈ 294.6 units

The same ₦10,000 buys 6.2 times more electricity on Band D than on Band A. That ratio is the entire design of the Service-Based Tariff: you are billed for reliability, not just for kilowatt-hours.

One trap worth naming. The lifeline rate is assessed on your total monthly consumption, not on a single recharge. Buying ₦200 of units does not put you on ₦4/kWh — that only applies if your whole month stays at or under 50kWh, which for most households is one fridge and a few light bulbs.

Abuja versus Lagos: the bands nobody compares

Band A being uniform nationally creates the impression that all DisCos charge the same. Below Band A they don't, and AEDC sits on the expensive side. Here is the same 200kWh month priced across five DisCos:

| DisCo | Band B | Band C | Band D | |---|---|---|---| | AEDC (Abuja) | ₦12,670 | ₦10,358 | ₦6,790 | | IKEDC (Ikeja) | ₦12,496 | ₦9,160 | ₦6,248 | | EKEDC (Eko) | ₦12,200 | ₦9,706 | ₦6,496 | | KEDCO (Kano) | ₦13,058 | ₦9,514 | ₦6,404 | | PHED (Port Harcourt) | ₦13,792 | ₦11,276 | ₦7,934 |

An AEDC Band C customer pays ₦1,198 more per 200kWh month than an Ikeja Electric Band C customer, and a Band D customer pays ₦542 more — for the same units, on the same nominal service level. Over a year, that Band C difference is roughly ₦14,400. Not life-changing, but it's the sort of thing worth knowing before you accept that "electricity costs the same everywhere in Nigeria."

Estimate your AEDC bill or check what your recharge buys →

If you think you're on the wrong band

Your band is a property of the feeder that serves your street, not something you choose or negotiate individually. It's printed on your bill or vending receipt. The thing worth checking is whether the supply you actually receive matches the band you're billed on — NERC's framework requires DisCos to downgrade customers who don't get the guaranteed hours, and a Band A customer receiving Band B hours is being charged more than three times the correct rate. Log it with AEDC, and keep your own record of daily supply hours; a written log is the only evidence you'll have.

Tariff figures are sourced from NERC's published Multi-Year Tariff Orders for AEDC, current as of the May 2026 supplementary order and checked as of September 2026. Band A has been frozen at ₦209.50/kWh since July 2024 and Bands B–E since December 2022, but tariffs are set by regulatory order and can change — confirm against your actual bill if a figure here looks out of date. Note that Enugu State is no longer regulated by NERC at all and is not comparable to the table above. This article is general information, not financial advice.