The rise in electricity rates for users classified as Band A has been approved by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission. According to PUNCH Online, consumers in Band A are those who receive 20 hours of electricity every day.
The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), which oversees the electricity industry, announced the news in Abuja and pointed out that only 15% of the more than 12 million registered power users will be impacted by the new ruling.
Musliu Oseni, the Vice Chairman of NERC, in a press briefing, stated that customers will henceforth pay N225 kilowatt per hour instead of the present N66. He claimed that less than 500 feeders, or a small portion of the nearly 3,000 Distribution Companies (Discos) feeders, will be affected.
However, he clarified that clients of the other Bands will not be impacted by the review.
He said, “We currently have 800 feeders that are categorized as Band A, but it will now be reduced to under 500. This means that 17 percent now qualify as Band-A feeders. These feeders only service 15 percent 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 continued by saying that certain Band A customers had also been downgraded by the commission to Band B for failing to use the electricity supplied by the electrical distribution firm for the required number of hours.
Additionally, Bloomberg had reported on Tuesday, citing sources, that electricity firms will be permitted to increase the cost of electricity for urban consumers from N68 to N200 ($0.15) per kilowatt-hour.
Prior to this announcement, The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) declared the appropriate wholesale price of natural gas for the strategic sectors as well as the 2024 Domestic Base Price (DBP).
It noted that the natural gas used in generating 70% of electricity in Nigeria will be sold at $2.42 per million British thermal units (MBTU) rather than the previous rate of $2.18 MMBtu.
