Nigerians may be made to pay more for electricity tariffs from July, as the Federal Government said it was considering a fresh hike to boost the country’s power sector.
While the consideration comes few days after the World Bank report rated the Nigeria’s powers sector low, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, said the review was pursuant to the provisions of the Electric Power Sector Reform Act, EPSRA.
The planned hike was contained in a notice to the general public and industry stakeholders posted on the NERC website on Monday, where it stated that it is concluding the Extraordinary Tariff Review process for the 11 Electricity Distribution Companies, DisCos.
The commission said the extraordinary tariff reviews are carried out in cases where industry parameters have changed from those used in the operating tariffs to such an extent that a review is urgently required to maintain the viability of the industry.
NERC added that it would also commence the processes for the July 2021 Minor Review of the Multi-Year Tariff Order (MYTO-2020), which is done every six months, explaining that the reviews would put into consideration changes in inflation, foreign exchange, gas prices and available generation capacity. https://www.theheritagetimes.com/nerc-denies-50-electricity-tariff-increase/.
“Further to the above, the commission held series of public hearings and stakeholder consultations in the first quarter of 2020 on the Extraordinary Tariff Review Applications of the 11 DisCos to consider their respective five-year Performance Improvement Plans (PIPs). However, the evaluation of the DisCos’ requests for review of the CAPEX proposed in their PIPs could not be concluded for the consideration of the commission during the Minor Reviews undertaken in 2020.
“Specifically, Section 21 of the MYTO – 2020 Order provides for consideration of DisCos’ CAPEX application upon further scrutiny and evaluation of the investment proposals,” NERC said.
