The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has dismissed reports of a planned hike in electricity tariffs in the country starting from this month, stating that such a decision has yet to be reached.
Describing reports on the plan as media speculation, Chairman of NERC, Dr. Sam Amadi, said the commission was only reviewing new proposals from electricity distribution companies or Discos for increase in the retail rates they charge to consumers.
The retail rates, which covers a 10-year period, is being reviewed by NERC’s technical team to ascertain the authenticity of their details, Amadi stated.
He said, “It is at the end of the ongoing review exercise to be concluded in a few weeks’ time that the figures of increase or decrease would be clearer to anyone.”
“Most of the news items are in the realm of speculative journalism. The final figure is not clear to anyone as some of the distribution companies are still providing clarifications sought by the Commission’s technical team working on their applications.
“Some of them are also making corrections to their applications on the basis of those clarifications,” Amadi added.
He explained further that the process of reviewing the applications is painstaking and thorough, adding that, “We will not allow any frivolous claim by the operators to be passed to electricity consumers as tariff. That is a major reason we told them to consult with their customers after they submitted their applications to us.”
NERC also explained that within the review exercise, it is equally taking into consideration the outcome of the public consultations it conducted to get electricity consumers distribution companies debate on the proposal.
