No increase in electricity tariff yet, says NERC

The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), says no tariff increase has been approved by the commission yet.

Usman Arabi, NERC’s General Manager, Public Affairs, in a statement on Friday in Abuja said it was still consulting with stakeholders.

Recall that in document released by NERC on Wednesday, had proposed electricity tariff with consumers paying additional sum of between N8 and 14 for every kilowatt-hour of energy provided by their respective distribution companies.

In the report, the new increase expected to take effect from 2020 differed for each DisCos.

It was learnt that the difference between what Abuja DisCo’s (AEDC) customers pay currently and what will be paid from next year is an increase of N9.8/kWh.

Reacting to the report, Arabi said that the commission wished to notify the public that no tariff increase had been approved by the commission contrary to the impression in some quarters.

“However, the commission in the discharge of its statutory responsibilities enshrined under the Electric Power Sector Reform (EPSR) Act, shall continue to undertake periodic reviews of electricity tariffs in accordance with prevailing tariff methodology.

“In all instances of such reviews and rule-making, the commission shall widely consult stakeholders and final decision shall be taken with due regard of all contributions,” he said.

Arabi said that the commission wished to provide guidance that the minor review implemented by the commission was a retrospective adjustment of the tariff regime released in 2015.

He said that this was to account for changes in macroeconomic indices for 2016, 2017 and 2018, “thus providing certainty about revenue shortfall that may have arisen due to the differential between tariffs approved by the regulator and actual end-user tariffs,” he said.