Manufacturers and organised Labour have kicked against the Federal Government’s 240 per cent hike in the tariff payable by electricity users enjoying a 20-hour power supply.
They insisted on the electricity subsidy, warning that its removal would send manufacturers out of business and worsen inflation.The subsidy on electricity has been withdrawn completely from the tariff payable by power consumers in the Band A category, who constitute about 15 per cent of the total number of power users across the country.The government announced the hike in the electricity bill at a press briefing in Abuja by NERC on Wednesday, adding that those affected would now pay a tariff of N225 per kilowatt-hour, up from the previous rate of N68/kWh, representing about 240 per cent increase. The government declared that the decision took effect from Wednesday (yesterday).
The Vice Chairman of NERC, Musiliu Oseni, told journalists in Abuja that the government could not sustain subsidy on electricity and had to devise ways to cut down the about N2.9tn that would be spent on power subsidy this year.
He explained that customers on Band A represented 15 per cent of the over 12.82 million registered electricity consumers across the country, adding that the commission had also downgraded some customers on this band.
Discos feeders downgraded
Oseni said the downgrading of some Band A customers to Bands B and C was because of the non-fulfillment of the required hours of electricity provided to them by power distribution companies in their respective franchise areas.
He said NERC was able to discover this after deploying technology to ascertain the rate of power supply from the feeders of the Discos meant for Band A power users.
“And on that basis, the commission has decided that many of the feeders that the Discos brandish as Band A feeders are not meeting the Band A service, and as such the feeders have been downgraded immediately as a way of protecting consumers.
“We have over 3,000 Discos feeders. There are over 875 Band A feeders, but upon reviewing the feeders’ performance, the commission has reduced it to under 500 feeders now, which qualify as feeders that currently meet the 20-hour average service.
“So when you look at that concerning the over 3,000 feeders that we have, it shows that we have just 17 per cent of the total feeders of the distribution companies now qualified as Band A feeders.
“And when you look at where those 17 per cent feeders critically, it is estimated that just under 15 per cent of customers are benefiting from them, or are currently connected to those feeders, meaning that we have 17 per cent of the total distribution feeders or less than 15 per cent of customers currently benefiting from the service,” Oseni stated.
He stressed that based on this, “the commission has decided that only the 17 per cent feeders and less than 15 per cent customers will be affected by any rate increase that the commission will approve for the distribution companies.
“Therefore the commission has issued an order, which is titled April 2024 Supplementary Order, which is supplementary to the order issued in December 2023 effective January 2024.
“So the April Supplementary Order takes effect from today and in that order, the commission has approved a rate review of N225/kWh for just under 15 per cent of the customer population in NESI. So that means that less than 15 per cent of the customers will be affected.”
He further noted that many customers previously classified as Band A power users would not be affected because they hardly get a daily average power supply of up to 20 hours.
Oseni said consumers affected by the latest tariff hike would henceforth pay their power bills completely by themselves, as the applicable subsidies on Bands B, C, D, and E would not be enjoyed by them.
Madukwe B. Nwabuisi is an accomplished journalist renown for his fearless reporting style and extensive expertise in the field. He is an investigative journalist, who has established himself as a kamikaze reporter.
