The federal government has announced plans to regularize electricity bills to correct the differences in the current billing system and encourage increased investment in the power sector.
Naija News Reported to the Minister of Power Adebaya Adebadarevealed in a continued public presentation of the National Integrated Electricity Policy and Nigeria’s Integrated Resources Program on Thursday.
According to Adelabu, the slow migration to the band was mainly due to the reluctance to make necessary infrastructure investments by power generation companies (Discos).
Under the current tariff structure, B Band customers receive 17-18 hours of electricity per day, paying 63 hours per kilowatt-hour per kilowatt-hour, and A Band A customers only need to receive another two hours of supply, paying 209 per kilowatt-hour.
The Minister described this pricing gap as “unfair”, highlighting the need for a more balanced and equitable billing system.
New tariff structure for review
Adelabu assured Nigerians that the government does not plan a thorough tariff rate hike, but will review existing pricing models to ensure fairness.
“We will look at the tariffs again. I’m not saying we’re going to increase tariffs before miscitation.
“We will look at it and see how we can improve based on the modest achievements of last year, not only to ensure we grow the industry, but also to ensure we can invest more in renovating all of this shabby infrastructure,” he said. Adrab said.
The minister accused the Disco of not investing in infrastructure upgrades, which hindered the faster migration of low-frequency clients to band A.
“We need a lot of investment to accelerate the migration of low-frequency clients to band A. It takes a lot of time because the disco is refusing to invest.” He said.
To address this, the government is considering restructuring the tariff system by closing the larger gap between Band A, B and C.
Adrab added “The gap between band A’s tax rate and band B, C, C, D and E is too wide.
“We think this is unfair, not only fair, but we have to be able to do a certain degree of regularization.”
Adrab assured that the government remains committed to reviewing the tariff system in a way that ensures affordability while supporting sector growth.
