Nigerians may be bracing up for more hardship in the coming months as a result of the high cost of living following another round of increase in electricity tariff by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission.
The implementation is that the hike will engender rise in prices of goods and services, particularly, food items and transportation, among others, further impoverishing most Nigerians, who are burdened by low purchasing power and even lack of money.
Consequently, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has approved requests by some Electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos) to increase their tariff rates. The DisCos include: Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company (PHEDC); Jos Electricity Distribution Company (JEDC); Kano Electricity Distribution Company (KEDC); Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company (KEDC); Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company (IKEDC) and Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) According to a report by The Nation, the new approval took effect from January 1, 2022 but the new rate is from February 2022. According to the document titled: “This regulatory instrument shall be cited as Multi-Year Tariff Order (MYTO-2022) for Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company Plc (PHED”), NERC based the increase on the Performance Improvement Plans of the DisCos and indices such as gas price, inflation, exchange rate, US inflation rate and available generation capacity. The commission noted that the indices with potential impact of on electricity rates were considered. It added that these indices shall be reviewed in every six months to update the tariffs with changes in the indices as applicable in line with the MYTO. READ ALSO: 2023 Elections: Political Parties Have One Month To Conduct Primaries, INEC Insists This was contained in the commission’s Order No: NERC/304/2021, which chairman, Sanusi Garba and Vice Chairman Musiliu Oseni signed on 29th December, 2021. The document explained: “Consequently, following the approval of PHED’s PIP on 30th April, 2021, the Commission issued the MYTO-2021 Extraordinary Tariff Order effective from 1st July 2021 in consideration on PHED’s CAPEX proposals over a 5-year plan in line with the approved PIP. “Accordingly, this MYTO-2022 order restates PHED’s approved 5-year CAPEX and relevant assumptions applied to forecast revenue requirements and applicable tariffs for the period 2021-2026 in line with MYTO Methodology and Regulations Procedure for Electricity Tariff Reviews in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI).” It is programmed from 1st July 2021 to 30th June, 2026. The document showed that for the PHED (A-Non MD) customers who paid N56.16/kwh in January 2022 will now (February to December 2022) pay N60.67/kwh). (B Non-MD) customers who paid N56.64/kwh in January 2022, will now pay N59.64/kwh. They noted that E- MD2 customers who paid N50.72/kwh in January 2022, will now (From February 2022) pay N54.22/kwh.
