By Paul Ashiekaa
Despite the protest from members of the public and stiff opposition from the Nigerian House of Representatives against the increments in electricity tariff, there seems to be no relief as effective Monday, 1 February 2016, there will be an upward review in the pricing of a kilowatt-hour (kWh) unit of electricity.
The new pricing template referred to as Multi Year Tariff Order II 2015 (MYTO II) according to the regulator of the sector, The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission(NERC) aside from eliminating fixed charge, it has a robust mechanism to ensure that electricity distribution companies fully meter their consumers and eliminate crazy billing within one year.
The new pricing template (MYTO II) taking effect from today implies that all Distribution companies in Nigeria namely;
1. Abuja Electricity Distribution Company ( FCT, Niger, Kogi, and Nassarawa)
2. Benin Electricity Distribution Company (Edo, Delta, Ondo, and part of Ekiti)
3. Eko Electricity Distribution Company (Lagos)
4. Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (Enugu, Abia, Imo, Anambra and Ebonyi)
4. Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (Oyo, Ogun, Osun, Kwara and part of Ekiti)
5. Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company (Lagos)
6. Jos Electricity Distribution Company (Plateau, Bauchi, Benue and Gombe)
7. Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company (Kaduna,Sokoto, Kebbi and Zamfara)
8. Kano Electricity Distribution Company (Kano, Jigawa and Katsina)
9. Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company ( Rivers, Cross River, Bayelsa and Akwa Ibom) and
10. Yola Electricity Distribution Company, (Adamawa, Borno, Taraba and Yobe
will charge as much as over 45% more over a Kilowatt hour unit of electricity consumed but without a fixed charge which was previously charged to consumers monthly whether they made use of electricity or not.
The new electricity tariff varies from one distribution company (DisCo) to another. For instance, residential customer category (R2) who use single and three-phase meters under the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) will now pay N23.51kWh against the old rate of N13.91 kWh.
Eko and Ikeja electricity distribution consumers will pay N22.87kWh and N21.61 kWh respectively as their new energy charges against the old rate of N12.87kWh and N13.62kWh.
Electricity consumers in Kaduna and Benin areas will pay N27.96 kWh and N21.8 kWh respectively as against the old rate of N16.90 kWh and N12.54 kWh.
Electricity consumers under the Jos Electricity Distribution Company (JEDC) which comprise Plateau, Bauchi, Gombe and Benue states may pay as high as N24 per kwh to N34 kwh.
This upward review in prices to some extent will make consumers of electricity to be more prudent in the usage of power and will further mount pressure on the distribution companies (DISCOS) to always make power available to consumers which in the long run should give rise to prompt and frequent availability of power from the discos.
The directive given by the regulator (NERC) to the discos to meter all current customers within 100days and new customers in 60days after which nobody should be given estimated bills does not look feasible as NERC does not currently have the manpower to monitor this effectively. If this is to work as stipulated then NERC must start putting up measures in place to effectively make estimated billing a thing of the past.
The Jos Electricity Distribution Company has over 700,000 potential customers base out of which only 300,000 are legally captured. Recently the disco announced the distribution of about 15,000 prepaid meters to its customers to improve on the already poor coverage of its customers but what can 15,000 meters achieve?
It is believed that with the new tariffs in place, overtime there will be significant improvements in the power sector in Nigeria as this will bring about more investment in the sector.
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