[size=14pt]Electricity tariff goes up by 100% next March[/size]
TUESDAY, 28 SEPTEMBER 2010 23:00 FROM MATHIAS OKWE, ABUJA NEWS - NATIONAL


IF electricity consumers in Nigeria think they are already paying too much for the essential commodity, they have not seen anything yet.

Barely three months electricity tariffs were quietly hiked by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) by about 40 per cent across board, the industry regulator is set to push up the charges by as much as 100 per cent.

The next tariff review slated to come into force by the end of the first quarter of 2011, under the NERC’s Multi-Year Tariff Order (MYTO) regime, will, however, be discriminatory.

Under the proposed regime, the urban rich who consume more electricity than the urban poor and their rural counterparts are to pay more as the MYTO, claimed to be a subsidised incentive scheme of the Federal Government, will be gradually withdrawn.

This hint by the Technical Adviser on Regulatory and Transactions Monitoring Unit of the Presidential Task Force on Power, Mr. Rumundaka Wonodi, came just as the Director -General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), Bolanle Onagoruwa, declared that Nigeria requires a minimum of $5 billion yearly in the next 10 years to meet its energy requirement under Vision 20-2020.

The duo made the declarations yesterday in Abuja at a workshop organised for journalists to brief them on the power sector reforms status.

Wonodi said the planned major review of the electricity tariffs next year in the wake of government’s gradual removal of subsidy was to attract investors to the sector because studies have shown that it was least priced in Nigeria hence it cannot guarantee cost recovery by investors, let alone profit.

Speaking on removing obstacles to private sector investment in the Nigerian power industry, Wonodi said: “End-user tariff must at least be cost-reflective level. Consumers currently pay as much as N50/unit showing willingness to pay. Therefore, NERC will undertake a major review of existing tariff regime before first quarter 2011.”

He continued: “To prevent ‘rate shock,’ government will retain lifeline consumers. Also, much greater price differentiation and introduction of an inclining block tariff linked to level of consumption. A government-owned bulk buyer will carry out contract management and bulk trading on behalf of distribution companies (until the industry develops settlement, accounting, managerial and governance systems required for successful bilateral contracting). It is now incorporated as Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Company Plc.

“It will be fully operational (staffed and able to negotiate power purchase agreements by end of October 2010, while credit enhancement in form of World Bank partial risk guarantee (PRG) will also be secured to protect investors’ investments,” he further said.

In her presentation, Onagoruwa, who until her recent elevation as the director-general of the agency was the bureau’s director in charge of power, traced the government’s efforts in opening up the power sector to play its pivotal role as the nation’s industrial backbone, appealed to Nigerians to co-operate with the BPE to have a hitch-free privatisation of the 18 successor companies, which infrastructure are now in deplorable condition.

She said: “The recent power shortage in the country despite the Federal Government’s frequent financial intervention is fast becoming intolerable for this nation. Available information indicates that all the plants in the unbundled Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) are in poor condition with several of the units and supporting services completely down.

“There are also capacity constraints in the transmission and distribution networks requiring significant investments, which only private sector’s involvement can guarantee through modern technology and management.

“It should be noted that despite the massive investment by the government, the transmission and distribution capacity is still below 4,000 megawatts (mw). On the massive decay in the sector, industry experts estimate that $40 billion (N6 trillion) will be required to meet Nigeria’s electric power requirement between now and 2020,” she said.

http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=24490:electricity-tariff-goes-up-by-100-next-march&catid=1:national&Itemid=559

As long as people actually pay for only the ammount of electricity they consume then no probs. If this is to fly then pre paid meters have to become the standard prerequisite.

Sky Blue:

As long as people actually pay for only the ammount of electricity they consume then no probs. If this is to fly then pre paid meters have to become the standard prerequisite.

Can they afford it should be the question?

Aloy+Emeka:

She said: “The[size=13pt] recent power shortage  in the country[/size] despite the Federal Government’s frequent financial intervention [size=13pt]is fast becoming intolerable for this nation. [/size] Available information indicates that all the plants in the unbundled Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) are in poor condition with several of the units and supporting services completely down.

“There are also capacity constraints in the transmission and distribution networks requiring significant investments, which only private sector’s involvement can guarantee through modern technology and management.

“It should be noted that despite the massive investment by the government, the transmission and distribution capacity is still below 4,000 megawatts (mw). On the massive decay in the sector, industry experts estimate that $40 billion (N6 trillion) will be required to meet Nigeria’s electric power requirement between now and 2020,” she said.

[size=13pt]LOL[/size]

Sky Blue:

As long as people actually pay for only the ammount of electricity they consume then no probs. If this is to fly then pre paid meters have to become the standard prerequisite.

GBAM!

Aloy+Emeka:

Can they afford it should be the question?

Dude, I'm not sure it can be as expensive as what it costs to run my generators

dappssee:

Dude, I'm not sure it can be as expensive as what it costs to run my generators

You quickly forgot that not everybody can afford to run generators, 24/7.So, electricity in Nigeria should be reserved solely for the rich just like staple food?