The Federal Government has jacked up the electricity tariff for Band A customers.
Band A are those who enjoy electricity supply for 20 hours per day.
At a press briefing in Abuja on Wednesday, Musliu Oseni, Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), said the increase will see customers pay ₦225 kilowatts per hour, up from the current ₦66.
Oseni said these customers represent 15 per cent of the 12 million electricity customers in the country.
He added that the commission had also downgraded some customers on Band A to Band B due to non-fulfilment of the required hours of electricity provided by the electricity distribution company.
“We currently have 800 feeders that are categorised as Band A, but it will now be reduced to under 500. This means that 17 per cent now qualify as Band-A feeders. These feeders only service 15 per cent of total electricity customers connected to the feeders.
“The commission has issued an order which is titled April supplementary order and the commission allows a 235 kilowatt per hour.”
He noted that the review will not affect customers on the other Bands.
Bloomberg on Tuesday reported that power companies will be allowed to raise electricity prices to N200 ($0.15) per kilowatt-hour from N68 for urban consumers.
It quoted people in the presidency with knowledge of the matter saying this was in a bid to attract new investment and slash about $2.3bn spent to cap tariffs (subsidies).
According to the news agency, “Nigerians will now have to pay $2.42 per one million British thermal units from the previous rate of $2.18 MMBtu.”
The increase follows Monday’s announcement by the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) of an increase in the price of natural gas to power.
Grid Collapse
A week ago the nation was plunged into darkness as the national grid collapsed for the second time in the year.
The first occurrence happened on February 4.
Nigeria for decades has been overwhelmed by challenges in the energy sector as a result of an ever-growing population
Data from the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) indicated that the grid collapsed at about 4:00 pm, and dropped from 2,984 megawatts (MW) to zero in an hour, with all 21 plants connected to the grid ceasing operations by 5:00 pm.
In a statement, Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) appealed to consumers for understanding after confirming that the current power outage was due to a system failure from the national grid.
“The system collapsed at about 16:28 hours today 28 March 2024, causing the outage currently being experienced across our franchise area,” AEDC posted on its X handle.
“We appeal for your understanding as all stakeholders are working hard to restore normal supply.”
According to the Energy Progress Report 2022 released by Tracking SDG 7. Nigeria had the lowest access to electricity globally, with an estimated 92 million of the country’s population lacking access to power.
