The management of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has denied the media reports that it had approved a 50 per cent increase in electricity tariff.
Some sections of the media had on Tuesday reported that the commission had increased electricity tariff by 50 per cent.
NERC’s Head of Public Affairs, Mr Micheal Faloseyi, in a statement in Abuja on Tuesday, said the commission was committed to protecting electricity consumers from failure to deliver on committed service levels under the service-based tariff regime.
To this end, he said any customer that has been impacted by any rate increase beyond the above provision of the tariff order should report to the commission.
“The commission hereby states 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.
But NERC in an order (NERC/225/2020) signed by its Chairman, Sanusi Garba and Commissioner Legal, Licensing and Compliance, Dafe Akpeneye on December 31, 2020, approved a minor review of electricity tariff for Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC), increasing electricity cost for consumers under the franchise area.
The discos’s area includes Oyo, Ogun, Osun, Kwara and parts of Niger, Ekiti and Kogi states; and the new tariff order took effect January 1, 2021 and will exist until a new order is made.
However, the copy of the order seen by our reporter showed that the tariff increases will commence from July 1, 2021.
According to the order, tariff for customers in Band A (minimum supply of 20hrs daily) will increase by N6.85 to N69.18/kwh, a 10.98 percent rise.
Also from July 1, tariff for customers in Band B (minimum supply of 16hrs daily) will increase by 13.1 percent (N7.65) to N66.04/kwh from the present N58.9/kwh.
For customers in Band C (minimum supply of 12hrs daily), the increase is 29.13 percent (N14.19) to N62.92/kwh).
The highest tariff increase will be for consumers in Band D (minimum supply of 8hrs daily) with 121.5 percent (N32.79) hike to N55.76/kwh from N26.97/kwh
NERC stated that the review was necessary following changes in inflation rate, foreign exchange rate, available generation, gas price, collection losses from ministries, departments and agencies of government, and Capex adjustments.
On service improvement by the utility, NERC said: “IBEDC shall be liable for service improvements in accordance with commitments under its universal service obligations for providing electricity supply to customers.
“Subsequent retroactive review of IBEDC’s tariffs during Minor Tariff Reviews shall be based on the IBEDC’s MYTO load allocation of the grid total energy delivered to all DisCos in line with the vesting contract executed by IBEDC and NBET”.
“Where there is a failure to deliver on committed service level by IBEDC as measured over a period of 60 days, rates payable by all customers in the affected load cluster shall be retroactively adjusted in line with the quality of service delivered over the same period, upon verification by the Commission”, the order reads.
