New Electricity Tariff Takes Effect January 2012

Nigerians will start paying a revised electricity tariff from January 1, 2012, Chairman of Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) Dr. Sam Amadi has said.

Disclosing this yesterday in Abuja at a workshop organised by the commission on the review of the Multi-Year Tariff Order (MYTO), Amadi informed that President Goodluck Jonathan has already granted approval for the commencement of the new tariff.

“In recognition of the enormous challenge and in furtherance to his commitment to address the challenge of power supply in the country, President Goodluck Jonathan has granted approval that the revised electricity tariffs we expect to emerge from this consultative process take effect on 1st January, 2012,” the NERC boss stated.

Amadi who noted that the state of electricity supply in the country was presently very poor, challenged participants in the workshop to come up with strong and critical views on the MYTO technology, saying “one thing must be clear in our minds, Nigerians yearn deeply for stable, available and affordable power supply.”

To achieve this, he explained that a pricing regime which would sustain massive private sector investment and guarantee positive return on investment, must be established, hence the major review was brought to 2011 instead of the scheduled 2013.

“The outcome of this forum would determine what the new tariff would be, whether higher or lower.” Amadi said, adding, “We must regulate the sector in a way that will ensure a long-term expansion.”

The NERC chairman who called for constructive criticisms, said “there cannot be a better time than now to put the issues plaguing the sector back on the front burner… this gathering is therefore timely as it marks another bold step in our search for sustainable solutions that will drive all economic and developmental aspirations.”

In his presentation, commissioner, market, competition and rates, NERC, Eyo Ekpo, while explaining the issues with distribution methodology and end-user tariffs, said the current tariff schedule being utilised by the industry, was inherited from PHCN, and has 19 rate classes. He noted that there was now a need to merge some of these classes and make classifications more efficient and easier to apply.