The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has clarified that the government’s recently proposed hike in electricity cost will not impact every Nigerian.
Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Musiliu Oseni, disclosed in Abuja on Wednesday that the Federal Government had authorized a 300 percent rise in the electricity bill for certain users through NERC.
Power distribution firms (DisCos) will be permitted by the new agreement to increase the cost of power for impacted customers from N68 to N225 ($0.15) per kilowatt-hour this month, with effect from April 1, 2024.
Nigerians have responded to the development, saying they find the price increase inconsiderate.
However, Oseni has come out to clarify that the pricing rise will only apply to band A consumers who now receive up to 20 hours of power supply each day nationwide. He made it clear that other consumers in Bands B, C, and D won’t be impacted by the raise.
Oseni stated that only 15% of American electricity users are impacted by the rise.
According to the vice chairman, the commission also degraded certain Band A consumers to Band B since the electrical distribution business had not supplied the necessary number of hours of electricity.
“We currently have over 800 feeders that are categorised as Band A, but it will now be reduced to under 500. This means that 17 per cent of the feeder now qualifies as Band A.
“The commission using technology discovered that many of the feeders that the Electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos) currently brandish as Band A are not meeting the required service and as such.
“ The feeders were ordered to be downgraded immediately as a way of protecting consumers,” he said.
He said that as part of enforcement mechanisms to ensure that areas affected by the review get the 20 hours supply, DisCos have been mandated to set up rapid response teams in locations where the feeders are located.
“This is to ensure that the customers can have access to the DisCos.
“They have also been mandated to publish the contact of the rapid response team where the customers are located.
“Failure to meet the commitment for seven consecutive days, the feeder will be downgraded immediately to the service level the DisCos is able to provide electricity to the feeder,” he said.
Oseni said where a DisCo failed to meet the commitment for two days by the third day at 10am, the company must publish an explanation also via bulk SMS contacting the affected consumers on the feeder.
“They should explain why they could not meet the service for the two days and also submit the explanation to the commission,” he said.
