New electricity Tariff set to take effect by January 1, 2020, will not immediately affect customers until April 1st, according to a new report.
The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), said the delay in hike is thanks to FG's updated Power Sector Recovery Programme (PSPRP), and that the Federal Government will bear the burden for the delayed hike.
The commission said, “The Federal Government’s updated Power Sector Recovery Programme (PSPRP) does not envisage an immediate increase in end-users tariffs until 1st April 2020 and a transition to full cost reflectivity by end of 2021.”
To bridge this gap since customers won’t pay the new tariff till April, NERC In the Order dated December 31, 2019 and signed by the NERC Chairman, Prof. James Momoh and the Commissioner, Legal, Licencing and Compliance, Dafe Akpeneye, NERC said: “In the interim, FG committed to fund the revenue gap between the cost reflective tariff and the actual tariff NERC allows customers to pay.”
NERC said the review considered changes in macroeconomic indices like inflation at 11.3%, exchange rate at N309.9 to a dollar, and gas price at $3.30 per standard cubic feet (scuf).