The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, on Tuesday, said it never gave approval for the Electricity Distribution Companies, DISCOS, to jerk electricity tariffs by a staggering 50 percent.
The NERC made the rebuttal on Tuesday against the backdrop of a news report widely published by both traditional and social media earlier in the day to the effect that the Commission had granted the DISCOS approval to push the tarrifs up by a whopping 50 percent.
However, in a press release issued by the commission’s spokesman, Mr. Michael Faloseyi, also on Tuesday, the NERC roundly denied ever granting any approval for the reported hike in tariffs which was said to have taken effect from January 1, 2021.
Below is the full text of the NERC’s rebuttal:
Public Notice on the Purported 50% Increase in Electricity Tariffs
05.01.2021
The attention of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (“the Commission”) has been drawn to publications in the print and electronic media misinforming electricity consumers that the Commission has approved a 50% increase in electricity tariffs.
The Commission hereby state unequivocally that NO approval has been granted for a 50% tariff increase in the Tariff Order for electricity distribution companies which took effect on January 1, 2021. On the contrary, the tariff for customers on service bands D & E (customers being served less than an average of 12hrs of supply per day over a period of one month) remains frozen and subsidised in line with the policy direction of the Federal Government. In compliance with the provisions of the Electric Power Sector Reform Act (EPRSA) and the nation’s tariff methodology for biannual minor review, the rates for service bands A, B, C, D and E have been adjusted by NGN2.00 to NGN4.00 per kWhr to reflect the partial impact of inflation and movement in foreign exchange rates.
In the light of strong public interest on this matter, the media is hereby requested to retract their earlier publications misinforming electricity consumers nationwide about a purported 50% increase in electricity tariffs.
The Commission remains committed to protecting electricity consumers from failure to deliver on committed service levels under the service-based tariff regime. Any customer that has been impacted by any rate increases beyond the above provision of the tariff Order should report to the Commission at customer.complaints@nerc.gov.ng
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