The management of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has declared that there is no 50 per cent increase in electricity tariff.
NERC spokesman, Micheal Faloseyi, refuted the reported increment in a statement 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,” Faloseyi said.
“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.”
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.
NERC spokesman requested any customer that has been impacted by any rate increase beyond the above provision of the tariff order should report to the commission at customer.complaints@nerc.gov.ng.
Yet the NERC) has approved an upward tariff review for the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC).
A study of the tariff order shows that the power distributor has to operate the previous tariff of September 1, 2020 till June 2021.
Although the new commission’s order NERC/2028/2020, which disclosed this in its revised Multi Year Tariff Order (MYTO) minor review, said the tariff takes effect from January 1, 2021, IBEC, it was learned that the increase takes effect fromJuly 2021 as the rates remain unchanged from January to June 2021.
Nonetheless, the company said from the band A, the None Maximum Demand customers that are N62.33 per kilowatt till June 2021 will from July 2021 pay N68.83 per kilowatt.
In the same band A category, Maximum Demand customers that currently pay N61.54 per kilowatt, will pay N63.79 per kilowatt.
For the band B, Non Maximum Demand customers who pay N58.39 per kilowatt till June 2021 will pay N65.71 from July 2021. The Maximum Demand customers in the same band B that currently pay N57.33 per unit will pay NN64.52 by July 1, 2021.
NERC said “This order supersedes ORDER/NERC/202B/2020 and shall take effect from 1st January 2021 and shall cease to have effect on the issuance of a new Minor Tariff Order or Extraordinary Tariff Review Order by the NERC.”
Dated December 30, 2020 and signed by the Acting chairman, Sanusi Garba, the order noted that the new rate shall remain effective from January 1, 2021, until another minor review is announced.
On Minimum Remittance Threshold for January to June 2021, the commission explained that “The Power Sector Recovery Plan (PSRP) provides for a gradual transition to cost-effective tariffs with safeguards for the less privileged customers in the society.
“The Federal government, under the PRSP Financing Plan, has committed to funding the revenue gap arising from the difference between cost reflective determined by the commission and the actual end-user tariffs during the transition to cost-effective tariffs.”