The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has announced a N2 increase on majority of power consumers in the country.
Expectedly, the announcement has been greeted with consternation and uproar by Nigerians across the country, who lamented the insensitivity of the decision amid a national economic recession and the COVID-19 pandemic which had devastated the existential condition of millions in the country.
The NERC announced the increase via a Multi-Year Tariff Order (MYTO) signed by its new Chairman, Sanusi Garba, on December 30, 2020, showed that the new tariff increase took effect on January 1, 2021.
The new order supersedes the previous Order NERC/2028/2020 and takes effect from January 1, 2021. 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.
In the new order, NERC said it 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 raise the tariff…”
The revised Service Based Tariff (SBT) is applicable to power consumers on “service bands A, B, C, D and E have been adjusted by NGN2.00 to NGN4.00 per kWhr to reflect the partial impact of inflation & movement in forex”.
However, in a series of twits, the NERC has denied increasing the tariff by 50% as reported by the media. The commission accused “the print and electronic media of misinforming electricity consumers that the Commission has approved a 50% increase in electricity tariffs.”
The NERC twit thread titled, “Public Notice On Purported 50% Increase In Electricity Tariffs”, reads in full:
“The attention of the Commission has been drawn to publications in the print and electronic media misinforming electricity consumers that the Commission has approved a 50% increase in electricity tariffs.
“The Commission hereby state unequivocally that NO approval has been granted for a 50% tariff increase in the Tariff Order for electricity distribution companies which took effect on January 1, 2021.
“On the contrary, the tariff for customers on service bands D & E (customers being served less than an average of 12hrs of supply per day over a period of one month) remains frozen and subsidised in line with the policy direction of the FG.
“In compliance with the provisions of the EPSR Act and the nation’s tariff methodology for biannual minor review, the rates for service bands A, B, C, D and E have been adjusted by NGN2.00 to NGN4.00 per kWhr to reflect the partial impact of inflation & movement in forex.
“In the light of strong public interest on this matter, the media is hereby requested to retract their earlier publications misinforming electricity consumers nationwide about a purported 50% increase in electricity tariffs.
“The Commission remains committed to protecting electricity consumers from failure to deliver on committed service levels under the service-based tariff regime.
“Any customer that has been impacted by any rate increases beyond the above provision of the tariff Order should report to the Commission at customer.complaints@nerc.gov.ng”
Commenting on the NERC twit thread, power consumers lamented the increase
Oluwaseun Onijala who replied the NERC through the twitter handle @Onijayz wrote: “It is imperative that your commission prioritizes the interest of the Nigerian populace and more importantly, communicate updates to consumers on a periodic basis and not necessarily on occasions when a rebuttal becomes expedient. We deserve better!!!”
The handle @Babawon123 wrote: “Your PR team should do more to enlighten the masses on any development, we already have a baggage of bad policy by most agencies of government and parastatals. Your proactiveness on issues such as this is nil considering the hardship Nigerians are going through on a daily basis.”
Ngozi Okonkwo @TheSylentSiren replied: “Pls stop lying to us . There has been an increment. I bought 191.4kWh for N5,000 last month. At present N5,000 is giving me 176.9kWh. You all should stop this treachery.”
@amsaintalaska wrote: “Well, it should be decreasing by now, It shouldn’t be increased by less than N1 not to talk of N5, it should be decreased drastically, in d midst of hardship, it is even a shame to admit that some enjoy less than 12 hour electricity or more, Electricity should be 24 hours affordable”
@AjuduaPat replied: “I think there is need for NERC to come clean on this matter. I just bought recharge for my prepaid today & the increment in tarrif was reflected. This is very unfortunate at a difficult time like we have now. Effort should be made to reverse it immediately.”
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