An increase in the electricity cost for users classified as Band A has been approved by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission.
Musliu Oseni, the Vice Chairman of NERC, announced that customers will henceforth pay N225 on kilowatt per hour instead of the present N66.
According to PUNCH Online, consumers in Band A are those who receive 20 hours of electricity every day.
During a news conference on Wednesday in Abuja, Oseni stated that 15% of the 12 million energy users in the nation are consumers in Band A.
He added that the commission had also downgraded some customers on the Band A to Band B due to the non-fulfillment of the required hours of electricity provided by the electricity distribution company.
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 will not affect customers on the other bands.
Citing sources, Bloomberg had on Tuesday reported that power companies 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.
According to the news agency, “Nigerians will now have to pay $2.42 per one million British thermal units from the previous rate of $2.18 MMBtu.”
