Nigeria

Nigerian government increases electricity tariff again

Tuesday, January 05, 2021 at 12:17 PM by Kess Ewubare

- An emerging report indicates that Nigerians would have to pay more for electricity in 2021

- The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission has explained why it approved a tariff hike

- The new increase may generate negative reactions from Nigerians

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The federal government has approved over 50% hike in electricity tariff payable by customers of the 11 Distribution Companies (DisCos).

The hike was approved by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Daily Trust reported.

The publication stated that the new increase took effect on January 1, 2021, and supersedes the previous Order NERC/2028/2020, according to a revised Multi Year Tariff Order (MYTO) signed by the new chairman of NERC, Engr. Sanusi Garba.

FG increases electricity tariff again — An employee at the Afam VI power plant talks on a walkie-talkie at the plant in Port Harcourt. Photo: Florian Plaucheur.
Source: Getty Images

The commission explained that it approved the hike due to the 14.9% inflation rate rise in November 2020, foreign exchange of N379.4/$1 as of December 29, 2020, and the available generation capacity.

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The newspaper stated that the new increase also saw a hike in the rates payable by all classes of electricity users unlike the one of November 2020, which exempted low power getters.

According to the New Telegraph, the NERC Order revealed that the new tariff is effective till June 2021 while a Cost Reflective Tariff (CRT) expected to raise the new cost higher will be activated from June to December 2021.

The latest increase comes just two months after the government implemented a much-opposed hike in November 2020.

Meanwhile, DisCOS have been warned not to sell meters to Nigerians in any capacity. The warning was given by the federal government.

Specifically, the federal government vowed to sanction anty Disco caught selling meters or asking Nigerians to pay money to get the item.

In another news, Senator Danjuma Goje has said it may take Nigeria about 41 years to achieve steady power supply due to the federal government’s poor funding of the power sector.