The Government of Nigeria has once again increased the electricity tariff paid by citizens across the country.
The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) approved the increase in price saying the hike is based on consumer classes and has taken effect from January 1, 2021.
The tariff increase is taking effect barely two months after the government through NERC implemented an increase in electricity tariff in November 2020, which resulted in an outcry from the citizens and Labour Unions.
The MYTO order containing the latest tariff hike, Order NERC/225/2020, was signed by the new Chairman of the commission, Alhaji Sunusi Garba, and it replaces the previous Order NERC/2028/2020.
Revealing their justifications for the tariff hike, the commission said it considered the 14.9 percent inflation rate rise in November 2020 and foreign exchange of N379.4/$1 as of December 29, 2020.
The commission also mentioned the availability of generation capacity, the United States inflation rate of 1.22 percentage the Capital Expenditure of the power firms before the tariff was raised as the reasons for a tariff hike.
Unlike the price hike of November 2020 which affects high power consumers only, this new hike also affects low power consumers.
The commission however said the new tariff would be effective till June 2021 while a Cost Reflective Tariff would be activated from June to December 2021.
