ELECTRICITY CONSUMERS TO PAY MORE AS FG APPROVES 50% TARIFF HIKE . . . No 50% increament . . . N E R C

By Mike ALADENIKA

The Nigerian government has  again approved an increament in electricity tariff payable by electricity consumers in the country

The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, approved over 50 per cent hike in electricity tariff payable by customers of the 11 Distribution Companies, DisCos.

Multiple sourced reports indicate that a Multi Year Tariff Order (MYTO) signed by the new Chairman of NERC, Sanusi Garba, on December 30, 2020, showed that the new tariff increase took effect on January 1, 2021.

The new increment is coming barely two months after the implementation of the controversial hike proposed late  last year.

The new order, is believed to, supersede the previous Order NERC/2028/2020, as  according to the new order, NERC is  said to have considered the “…14.9% inflation rate rise in November 2020, foreign exchange of N379.4/$1 as of December 29, 2020, available generation capacity, US inflation rate of 1.22% and the Capital Expenditure (CAPEX) of the power firms to arrive at the new tariff…”

Unlike the previous order implemented in 2020, which exempted low power consumers, the revised Service Based Tariff (SBT) also saw increase in the rates payable by all classes of electricity users.

The order is effective till June 2021 while a Cost Reflective Tariff (CRT) expected to raise the new cost higher will be activated from June to December 2021.

Meanwhile, the management of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has denied the news of  50 per cent increament  in electricity tariff.

According to NERC’s Head of Public Affairs, Mr Micheal Faloseyi, in a statement in Abuja on Tuesday

 “The commission hereby state unequivocally that no approval has been granted for 50 per cent tariff increase in the tariff order for Electricity Distribution Companies (DISCOs) which took effect from January 1, 2021.

“On the contrary, the tariff for customers on Service Bands D and E (customers being served less than an average of 12 hours of supply per day for a period of one month) remains frozen and subsidised in line with the policy direction of the Federal Government."

“In compliance with the Electric Power Sector Reforms Acts (EPRSA) and the nation’s tariff methodology for biannual review, the rates for Service Bands A, B, C, D and E have been adjusted by N2.00 to N4.00 per kWhr to reflect the partial impact of inflation and movement in foreign exchange rates,” he said.

Faloseyi said that the commission remains committed to protecting electricity consumers from failure to deliver on committed service levels under the service-based tariff regime."

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