The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) on Tuesday suspended the implementation of increase in the electricity tariffs earlier planned to take off tomorrow, Wednesday, April 1.
In the directive tagged /198/2020 and entitled: ‘Order on the Transition to Cost Reflective Tariffs in NESI’, the regulatory agency noted that following the global effects of the coronavirus and the negative effect it is having on Nigerians and the industry, the right thing to do was to postpone the date of commencement.
“There shall be no increase in tariffs of end-use customers on 1 April, 2020.
“Performance Improvement Plan will form the basis for future tariff review.
“This order shall take effect from 1 April 2020 and shall cease to have effect on the issuance of a new Order by the NERC,” said the chairman of NERC, Prof. James Momoh and the commissioner for legal, licencing and compliance, Mr. Dafe Akpeneye, in the directive.
The agency explained that from its public hearings, consumers were willing to pay appropriate rates for services rendered by the Distribution Companies (DISCOS) but must be of quality and with adequate metering.
It said the existing tariff regime would be retained, but did not say when the new electricity tariff would be executed.
It would be recalled that NERC had, on December 31, 2019, announced plans to immediately review electricity tariffs in the country from January 1.
The order, entitled “December 2019 MYTO Minor Review Order” for the 11 electricity distribution companies (DISCos) was jointly signed by Momoh and Akpeneye.
However, the commission clarified later that the new tariff regime would not take effect until April 1, 2020 to allow it sufficient time to consult all the interest groups following misgivings by many Nigerians.
