The federal government has through the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, approve tariff increase for all the electricity distribution companies in Nigeria.
The commission disclosed this in a Multi-Year Tariff Order for DisCos shared on its official website on Wednesday, January 17.
The commission said the new MYTO for DisCos takes effect from January 1 2024.
According to the commission, the electricity subsidy is projected to cost N1.6 trillion in 2024.
NERC Chairman, Sanusi Garba, explaining the development to newsmen in Abuja on Wednesday, noted that the federal government plans to allocate 30 billion monthly, totaling N1.6 trillion in 2024, for electricity subsidies.
Garba added that the government will cover N90 for each N150 electricity bill, leaving consumers responsible for the remaining fraction.
The commission also noted that electricity tariff adjustments would be made monthly to avoid rate hike shock.
“If we have determined that you should be paying N150 and the Federal Government says you should pay N60, it will pay the difference. Then that is what it is, and the government would now provide the money.
“One of the new things in tariff order is, to avoid rate shock, we will now be doing the minor tariff review very frequently, like every month,’’ he said.
In the last days of 2023, a report emerged of a planned electricity hike on January 1, 2024.
However, the apex regulatory body denied the claim of electricity tariff hike.
Barely two weeks ago, the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, insisted on electricity subsidy payments at the time of review of the implementation of cost-reflective tariffs.
He said, “We’re reviewing the implementation process of a cost-reflective tariff while ensuring continued government subsidy for vulnerable members of society”.
Adelabu disclosed that the federal government spent N700 billion on electricity tariffs in 2023.
Breakdown of if the new distribution are; Enugu Electricity Distribution Company, EEDC, will get N128.92bn, Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (N223.26 billion), Yola Electricity Distribution Company (N64.48 billion), Benin Electricity Distribution Company (N140.85 billion), Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (N199.841 billion), the Eko Electricity Distribution Company (N198.78 billion) and Ikeja Electricity Distribution (N238.201 billion).
