The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has given the green light to a substantial increase in electricity rates for Band A customers, who typically enjoy 20 hours of power supply per day. Musliu Oseni, NERC’s vice-chairman, disclosed this during a press briefing in Abuja, highlighting that the new tariff of N225 per kilowatt-hour (kW) will be implemented starting April 3, representing a considerable jump from the previous rate of N66 per kW.
Oseni emphasized that the revised rate, nearly tripling the existing one, would predominantly affect only a fraction of customers. He stated, “The commission sat and reviewed further the application by the distribution companies and have decided that only the 17 percent feeders and less than 15 percent customers will be affected by any rate increase that the commission will ever approve for the DisCos.”
Highlighting the specifics of the new order, Oseni mentioned the issuance of the ‘April 2024 Supplementary Order,’ an addition to the December order taking effect in January 2024. He clarified, “So, the April Supplementary order takes effect from today and in that order, the commission has approved a rate review of N225 per kilowatt-hour for just under 50 percent of the customer population in NESI.”
