Reps move to stop increase in electricity tariff

By Gift Chapi- Odekina

The House of Representatives, has called on the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) to put a stop to the planned increase in electricity tariff at the moment.

To this end, the House on Thursday mandated its Committee on Power (when constituted) to interface with NERC with a view to finding a common ground to addressing the proposed hike in the interest of Nigerians.

The resolution followed a motion moved by the Deputy Minority Whip, Hon. Aliyu Madaki, who expressed concerns over the suspense created by the planned increase in electricity tariff by Distribution Companies (DISCOs).

The lawmaker recalled that the DISCOs recently alerted customers of a planned electricity tariff hike hinged on the Multi-Year Tariff Oder (MYTO), citing a circular issued to that effect by the distribution firms, stating that effective July 1, 2023, there would be an upward review of the electricity tariff influenced by fluctuating rates.

According to him, “under the MYTO, 2022 guidelines, the previous exchange rate of N 441/$1 may be revised to approximately N750/$1 which would have an impact on the tariffs associated with electricity consumption”.

He pointed out that under the planned hike, consumers within ‘B’ and ‘C’ with supply hours ranging from 12–16 hours per day will pay N100 per KWh, while Bands ‘A’ with 20 hours and above and ‘B’ with 16–20 hours, would experience comparatively higher tariffs, that is, for customers with a prepaid metre, whereas, for those on post-paid (estimated) billing, a significant increment is expected to be higher.

“The widespread apprehension in the country over the planned introduction of a new electricity tariff regime by the Distribution companies (DISCOS)”, he said, adding that the recent statement by the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) directing its consumers to disregard the earlier notice of the increase in the electricity tariffs hike is confusing, as members of the public are confused as to what to believe.

“The proposed increase is coming despite the inability of the operators to meet the threshold of supplying at least 5,000 megawatts per year after signing the contract with the National Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC)”, he argued, stressing that “it is most inappropriate and insensitive to come up with a price increase of such magnitude at this time when many Nigerians are yet to come to terms with the increase in petrol prices”.

In their separate submissions, Babajimi Benson and Olumide Oshoba said caution must be taken in view of the increasing cost of infrastructure, which the companies must strive to cover. “You cannot control prices for a deregulated market”, Oshoba said.

Their positions were however countered by Satomi Ahmed and Ali Isa JC, who separately insisted that the burden of the subsidy removal on Nigerians was still huge to beat in addition to any tariff hike for electricity. Ahmed lamented that there had been virtually no investment in infrastructure since the DISCOs took over distribution of power, as communities are still procuring transformers in order to be connected.