An increase in the electricity tariff for users classified as Band A has been approved by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).
Musliu Oseni, the vice chairman of NERC, announced that customers will now pay N225 kilowatt per hour instead of the existing N66 as electricity tariff.
The customers under Band A are those who enjoy 20 hours of electricity supply daily.
Speaking at a press conference in Abuja on Wednesday, Oseni said customers in Band A represent 15 per cent of the 12 million electricity customers in the country.
He further disclosed that some Band A customers had also been demoted by the commission to Band B because they had not used the electricity supplied by the electrical distribution firm for the required number of hours.
He said, “We currently have 800 feeders that are categorised as Band A, but it will now be reduced to under 500. This means that 17 per cent now qualify as Band A feeders. These feeders only service 15 per cent of total electricity customers connected to the feeders.
“The commission has issued an order which is titled ‘April Supplementary Order’ and the commission allows a 235 kilowatt per hour.”
He added that the review would not affect customers on the other bands.
A foreign news outlet, Bloomberg, had on Tuesday reported that power companies in Nigeria will be allowed to raise electricity prices to N200 ($0.15) per kilowatt-hour from N68 for urban consumers.
It quoted people in the presidency with knowledge of the matter saying this was in a bid to attract new investment and slash about $2.3 billion spent to cap tariffs.
The news agency reports that “Nigerians will now have to pay $2.42 per one million British thermal units from the previous rate of $2.18 MMBtu.”
The development came amid Monday’s announcement by the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority of an increase in the price of natural gas, which is used to generate more than 70 per cent of electricity in Nigeria.
