In a major move to decentralize electricity generation and boost clean energy adoption, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has officially launched the Net Billing Regulations 2026.
The new legal framework transforms medium-to-large-scale renewable energy consumers into prosumers—individuals or businesses that both consume and produce electricity.
Under this regulatory architecture, these operators are now legally authorized to export their surplus clean energy directly into the national grid via local distribution companies (DisCos).
Unlike traditional power setups where consumers only pull energy from the grid, net billing establishes a two-way street. When a prosumer’s solar array produces more electricity than their facility needs (typically during peak daylight hours), the excess power is automatically routed back into the commercial distribution network.
To keep track of this multi-directional flow, the NERC urged participants to be equipped with bidirectional smart meters. These specialized meters independently measure two distinct streams: the grid import, which is the amount of electricity the customer pulls from the DisCo when their solar system isn’t producing enough, and the grid export, which is the surplus clean energy sent from the customer’s solar arrays back out into the community network.
At the end of the billing cycle, the exported energy is financially credited to the prosumer’s utility account based on a regulated export tariff structure pre-approved by NERC.
The initiative is heavily tailored toward commercial and industrial (C&I) installations, manufacturing plants, large estates, and institutional developers.
To maintain grid stability and safety, NERC has set strict technical thresholds notably; Eligible Renewable Energy Systems (RES) primarily solar photovoltaic setups must have a minimum capacity of 50 kilowatt peak (kWp) and cannot exceed a maximum cap of 1.5 Megawatt peak (MWp).
It also noted that the generating facility must be actively tied into an operational DisCo infrastructure, meaning completely off-grid, isolated mini-grids do not fall under this specific billing framework.
The commission further added that all inverter systems, anti-islanding protections, and synchronization gear must comply with NERC’s rigorous technical codes to prevent back-feeding power during grid maintenance outages.
The commission however warned that prospective prosumers cannot simply wire their solar systems outward. they must undergo a formalized onboarding process managed by their local utility provider.
The introduction of the Net Billing Regulations 2026 is expected to unlock significant private sector capital for distributed solar projects across Nigeria. By allowing businesses to monetize their idle daytime generation, the policy drastically shortens the payback period for commercial solar investments while relieving pressure on Nigeria’s constrained central generation assets.