According to the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, it has not approved a tariff rate review in the power sector in recent times.
Mr Sanusi Garba, Chairman of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, stated on Friday, May 6, that the last tariff review was approved on December 31, 2021, and went into effect in February of this year.
Garba said;
“I want to, on behalf of the management of NERC, clearly state that as of today (Friday), we have not approved any rate review and there is no indication that any electricity distribution company is increasing its tariff.
“If you notice that the rate you buy electricity has changed within the last one to three weeks, we want evidence. The information posted on the NERC website was the last tariff rate review in December 2021.
“Our function is to approve applications for tariffs for the distribution companies, and we have not received any.
“We have clearly said that we have an obligation by law to do minor review every six months to take care of inflation, forex and so on.”
Commenting on issue of Eligible Customers Regulations, the Commissioner, Market Competition and Rates, NERC, Mr Musiliu Oseni, said the regulation and the framework were are still in place.
Oseni went on to say that the commission had sent a letter to market operators instructing them to stop recognizing certain potential customers.
Oseni also revealed that generators were already negotiating to renegotiate their contracted capacity with NBET in order to free up capacity to sell to eligible customers.
He said;
“As of today, we have a few customers that have been approved as eligible customers pending the review of the necessary documentation of other customers.
“Some of the customers that are yet to secure approval have some challenges, which include the inability of their potential generators to sell additional capacity to them.
“Under that framework, many of the generators had a contract with the Nigeria Bulk Electricity Trading Company, and you cannot contract the same capacity twice.”