Nigerians To Pay More For Darkness As PHCN Hikes Tariff Today

With effect from today, electricity power consumers will pay more for the erratic power supply offered them by the Power Holding Company of Nigeria, PHCN.
The erratic nature of PHCN power supply make many Nigerians to hold the belief that they will be paying more for darkness.
The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC which regulates PHCN’s operations announced last week that consumers will now pay N10 per kilowatt an hour. An increment of N1.50 from the previous N8.50 per kilowatt an hour, representing a 17.6 per cent increase.
According to NERC, the increase was aimed at making the power sector more attractive to investors who were of the opinion that the power tariff in Nigeria is the lowest in the world and therefore cannot make the market viable for prospective investors.

Before the increase was announced, NERC had earlier held a meeting with the chief executive officers of electricity distribution companies. They were reminded that the electricity tariff schedule which should have been operative since 2008 will now be implemented.
NERC informed the managers that the last schedule of the 2008/2013 Multi-Year-Tariff-Order, MYTO has been to charge N10 per kilowatt an hour. But it was not effected until now.
However, the tariff increase came as a surprise to many consumers especially when PHCN power generation level has dropped from 3100 to 2800 mega watts in recent times.
The PHCN had promised that it will not increase the tariff until there is an appreciable improvement in power supply. Power consumers have expressed outrage the increase at a time they experience more blackout or darkness than power supply.
But the NERC over while informing the distribution companies of the new tariff regime, urged them to ensure marginal improvement in power supply to the consumers to justify the increment and encourage investors.
The power regulatory body expressed the opinion that the new tariff will bring some gains for the PHCN in the areas of power delivery, be it generation or distribution.
There has been argument that the Federal Government should hands off power generation and distribution so that private investors could take over and ensure efficient and steady power supply in the country.

Culled from : PM News