NERC Pegs Electricity Bill In New Regulation From February
A new regulation that will peg the electricity bill, giving unmetered customers an advantage over estimated billing by Power Distribution companies (DisCos) will be introduced February.
Chairman, Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Professor James Momoh said the regulation will compel DisCos to meter electricity consumers as the new regulations will put the power firms at a disadvantaged position in the long run and also curb the exploitation of the customers as experienced under the current regime of estimated billing.
Electricity consumers have battled the DisCos overestimated billings which they described as killings and not reflective of the consumers’ consumption.
It has, on some occasions led to a scuffle between the consumers and the officials of power firms leading to bodily harm and injuries.
The NERC boss Tuesday at a media briefing in Abuja said once the regulation is released, unmetered customers would only pay what the commission compelled Discos to collect as estimated bills.
He added: “Failure to do so, we have a backup plan, which is one of our regulations that will be out in about a month, called ‘Capping’ which is going to put a maximum amount DisCos can charge customers.”
Momoh noted that the capping regulation would make customers seek for meters, adding that it would also make power distributors provide the facility.
“For DisCos, it will be an advantage for them to provide meters as this is an attempt to make sure that the win-win customers are metered.
We want DisCos to provide them with meters because the minimum we are going to allow them to charge is not going to be to their advantage in the long run,” he stressed.
Reacting to the concerns raised by stakeholders who argued that the proposed electricity tariff increase by the commission was not only unacceptable but would trigger inflation, worsen poverty and affect other economic indexes, Momoh also insisted that there would be no immediate increase in electricity tariffs, stressing that the commission was working to ensure that electricity distribution companies (DisCos) provide meters to consumers.
“There is no immediate increase in tariff for customers. As a regulator, we have been mandated to review the proposed tariff twice a year. We did the first one around June and we have no other option, but to do our job.
He said the Commission would do everything within its powers to ensure that electricity distribution companies provide meters through the Meter Asset Providers (MAP) to their customers.
“The maximum we are going to allow them (Discos) to charge will not be to the advantage of power distributors in the long run,” Momoh stated.
Prior to this, the Director-General, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Muda Yusuf, had argued that the nation’s power sector faced a multifaceted problem, saying instead of the proposed increment, there is a need to deploy a holistic approach going forward, otherwise, the consumers would be vulnerable.
“Only recently there was an increase. Now another is being proposed. The tariff question is no doubt one of the problems, but what is NERC doing about the issue of the capacity of the Discos, estimated billing, the technical and commercial loses, the metering problem, the quality and adequacy of investment by the discos the transmission issues, the proposal on the decentralization of the sector, the promotion of off-grid solutions, incentives for renewable energy solutions. All of these need to be addressed in order to inspire the confidence of consumers,” he said.
He advised NERC to protect the interests of consumers as well as that of the investors, pointing out that there is also the social dimension of electricity provision to those at the bottom of the pyramid.
“It is also critical to disaggregate and interrogate the components of the cost being claimed by the Discos. Already many small businesses have complained about prohibitive tariffs by discos following the last review. What is needed is a holistic reform rather than the simplistic solution of tariff review,” he recommended.
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