In just less than a week after Nigeria’s Electricity Regulatory Commission increased the electricity tariff by 231 per cent for category A consumers, it appears that the electricity supply capacity is grossly inadequate to meet the 20 hours per day minimum benchmark for the new tariff while also taking customers in other categories into consideration.
Yesterday only 3,236 megawatts of electricity were assigned to the 11 distribution companies operating in the power sector and this means that they could not deliver at least 20 hours’ supply for consumers under ban A throughout the country, according to Vanguard.
According to the findings, as of last week when the new tariff took effect, it had been an average supply and has not improved since then.
In the findings, it is revealed that the new Multi-Year Tariff Order that raised electricity rates for about two million customers by 231 per cent to N255 per kilowatt, from N68 per kilowatt, was running less in power generation that has been stagnant at 4,200 Megawatts in the past seven days.
According to Independent System Operator data as of 3 pm on Thursday, load allocation to the eleven DisCos at 3,236 Megawatts, gave Abuja Disco the highest allocation at 611MW, followed by Ikeja Electric (603MW), Eko DisCo (513MW), Ibadan DisCo (323MW), Benin DisCo (219MW), and Enugu DisCo (193MW).
Port Harcourt DisCo got (191MW), Kano DisCo (181MW), Kaduna Electric (174MW), and Jos DisCo (152MW) while received Yola DisCo (76MW), respectively.
Some Discos have reached out to their Band A customers issuing public apologies as regards the power situation.
In a statement issued by the company’s Head of Corporate Communication, Abdulazeez Abdullahi said setting up the rapid response team is part of Kaduna Electric’s efforts to ensure uninterrupted power supply to the Band A customers whose tariff has just been adjusted.
In a statement issued by the company’s Head of Corporate Communications, Abdulazeez Abdullahi, it said to ensure uninterrupted power supply to Band A customers whose tariffs have been adjusted, Kaduna Electric has set up a rapid response team.
It asked customers to contact the teams to report faults for prompt response.
PHEDC issued a statement titled ‘Service shortfall’ which said “Kindly note the current service shortfall experienced in areas where we did not meet up with the contractual supply hours on 8th of April, 2024”.
The affected feeders were listed as Amika and Refinery lines with areas such MM Highway, Mariam Road, Rumukwurushi, Aweto Guest House, Atali, Igwuruta Road, Rumuibekwe-Bori Road, Ahoada Road, Ogbonda, Aba-Road, Eleme Junction, Eneka, New-layout Eneka road, Igwuruta-Ali, affected.
Also, the Kaduna DisCo said it has set up teams to rapidly respond to downtime for Band A feeders.
According to a statement issued by the company’s Head of Corporate Communication, Abdulazeez Abdullahi, said setting up the rapid response team is part of Kaduna Electric’s efforts to ensure uninterrupted power supply to the Band A customers whose tariff has just been adjusted.
Commenting on this development, the Founder/CEO of the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise, Muda Yusuf, said “Some of the DisCos have issues that could be traced back to the privatisation era. Some of them did not have the required technical and financial capacity to buy or run the DisCos and add much value to deliver adequate and stable power to consumers.
“Also, millions of consumers have not been metered. So, how do you accurately bill someone that doesn’t have a meter? It is not fair to bill someone that has no meter.”
Meanwhile, the Director General of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Chinyere Almona, said “Our major concern is seeing our members pay heavily for the services that they may eventually not enjoy optimally. It is a grave concern that with a higher cost of power, companies are still not having access to the services.
“With higher tariffs and without the power supplied, our members will still have to invest in generating plants to provide power to run their businesses. We call for an aggressive metering programme that leads to 100 per cent coverage of electricity consumers. This guarantees liquidity for the distribution companies and gives more satisfaction to consumers with a feeling of paying for what they consume.”
The NERC Vice Chairman, Mr Musiliu Oseni recently made some clarifications on the new tariff regime and insisted that the Commission had all it took to enforce the 20-hour minimum supply requirement for Band A customers; he pointed out that DisCos who failed to comply with their obligations would be sanctioned.
According to the NERC, Band A customers are those electricity users who enjoy a power supply for a minimum of 20 hours daily.
