Power Plant transmission station
Electricity consumers in Nigeria are to pay more from January next year as the National Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has concluded plans to review upwards power tariffs in the country.
This is in line with the new thinking of the Federal Government to have the sector privatised to attract investors to shore up its capacity for the benefit of consumers.
Although, no figure has been released, but NERC’s Commissioner in charge of Government and Consumer Affairs, Dr. Abba Ibrahim, who spoke in Lagos Monday, said the review of the existing tariff had become necessary in view of the country’s failure to attain the target set in 2008 under the Multi-Year Tariff Order (MYTO).
“By now, we should have been generating 15,000mw, based on the MYTO that was designed in 2008. But we are still generating below 4,000mw as I am speaking today. So, it is an issue of quantity and price. If we had been able to achieve 15,000mw and you put everything in the basket, the average price, definitely, would be low. But we have not achieved that. That is why we are doing a major review, because the target in terms of the quantity or the volume of power has not been attained. So, there is going to be a major review, based on very reasonable projections,” Ibrahim said.
He said the country was no longer targeting 15,000mw because such target was not realisable, based on the reality on the ground.
Ibrahim said the realistic approach would be to review all the existing projects and the projections for new ones, so as to determine the current output.
He noted that the 5,000mw target set for December this year by the Minister of Power, Prof. Bart Nnaji, was realistic and reasonable.
“We have in the past, people claiming to bring in 15,000mw in 2007. Where is it? Is it realistic? Are we telling the people the right thing? But here, the correct signals are being sent out,” he added.
The Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, had recommended a cocktail of financing options in the nation's power sector, saying Nigerian banks had demonstrated great willingness to back the sector's reform programme.
He had proffered a multiple long-term financing approach sourced from the banks, capital market, insurance and other sectors, noting that rather than channel the N2 trillion accumulated pension fund into subsidising fuel import, the funds should be effectively used to finance power.
Meanwhile, worried by the rising cases of disagreement among estate developers, estate residents and electricity distribution companies on power connectivity, metering and billing, NERC has issued guidelines on electricity supply to estates.
Unveiling the guidelines in Lagos Monday, Vice-Chairman of NERC, Alhaji Mohammed Lawal Bello, said some of the actions or inactions that led to some of the disagreements were as a result of ignorance of what was expected of each participant in the emerging competitive electricity market.
Bello said under the guidelines, electricity bills should always be separated from bills for other services in an estate.
He also stated that estate management companies should not either unilaterally, or in conjunction with the electricity distribution companies increase electricity tariffs payable by residents of their estates.
According to him, it is the responsibility of the distribution companies to carry out electricity distribution activities in estates, including the sale, distribution, installation and maintenance of meters, billing and reading of the meters and collection of tariffs.
“Estate management companies cannot operate, install and vend meters, vending machines and other equipment for measuring electricity delivered to consumers, without the knowledge of the relevant distribution company and with the commission’s consent,” he said.
The NERC vice-chairman declared that any money collected from “landlords or residents of estates by estate management companies purporting same to be for installation of meters without the consent of the appropriate distribution companies is illegal and should be refunded to the landlords or residents”.
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