JUST IN: FG TO REASSESS ELECTRICITY TARIFFS FOR BAND B, C CUSTOMERS
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The Federal Government has announced plans to standardize electricity tariffs to address inconsistencies in the current billing system and promote investment in the power sector.
Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, revealed this during the public presentation of the National Integrated Electricity Policy and Nigeria Integrated Resource Plan on Thursday in Abuja.
He explained that the government is considering this move due to the slow progress in transitioning customers to Band A, a situation he attributed to the unwillingness of Distribution Companies to make the required investments.
Currently, customers in Band B, who receive 18 to 17 hours of electricity, are charged N63 per kilowatt-hour, while those in Band A, with just two additional hours of supply, pay N209 per kilowatt-hour. Adelabu described this as “unfair” and emphasized the need to regularize tariffs to establish a more balanced and fair pricing system.
The minister said, “We will look at the tariff again. I am not saying that we’re going to increase the tariff before I am misquoted.
“We are going to look at it and see how we can improve upon our modest achievement of last year, not only to ensure that we grow the sector that we need but also to ensure that we can invest more in revamping all these dilapidated infrastructures.”
“The migration to Band A should have been faster, but we found out that the DisCos refuse to invest. They have refused to invest in this sector.
“A lot of investment is required for us to achieve an accelerated migration of lower-band customers into Band A. It is taking a lot of time.”
As a result, the government is thinking about reorganizing the tariff bands to lessen the disparity that now exists between them.
These disparities would be addressed by a suggested new system that would include Bands A, B, and C.
“The gap between the Band A tariffs and Bands B, C, D, and E is just too wide,” he said. “We believe it’s not fair. It is not just, and we must be able to carry out some level of regularisation.”
Although he was quick to add that the review does not suggest an impending rate hike, he stated that the government is committed to evaluating the current tariff structure.
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