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It’s no longer news that the federal government, through the National Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), has increased electricity tariff for a category of consumers.
The decision was announced by NERC’s Vice Chairman, Musiliu Oseni, during a press briefing in Abuja on Wednesday, April 3, 2024.
According to the regulator, the tariff increase will only affect about 15% of electricity consumers who will henceforth pay ₦225 per kilowatt-hour, a massive jump from the existing rate of ₦68.
Why you may not feel the effect of the increase
Nigeria, a country of an estimated over 200 million population, has 12 million electricity consumers. Meanwhile, these consumers are broken down into five categories - Band A, B, C, D, and E.
Customers under Band A enjoy premium service of 20 to 24 hours of electricity supply per day, while those in Band B are served 16 to 20 hours across the country.
Band C customers only enjoy a maximum of 16 hours and a minimum of 12 hours of power supply. Band D customers follow suit with eight to 12 hours of electricity, while Band E are those in the lower rung with four to eight hours of supply.
According to NERC, only customers in Band A will be affected by the rate review. However, some customers in Band A have been downgraded to Band B because they still need to receive the required hours of electricity from the distribution company.
“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% 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,” Oseni stressed.
NERC also assured that other electricity customers not affected by the tariff increase would not be neglected as they would continue to get service.