Fresh Update Emerge On Planned Electricity Tariff Hike

On Sunday, the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) maintained that its planned electricity tariff hike across its franchise states would commence July 1, 2023, as announced earlier.

Naija News understands that the planned electricity tariff hike had attracted reactions among stakeholders when it was first announced.

However, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led administration allayed fears in a statement issued during the week.

The incumbent government promised Nigerians that the power supply across the county would improve ahead of the planned electricity tariff hike on July 1.

The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Power, Temitope Fashedemi, made the promise during a meeting with the Special Adviser to the President on Energy, Ms Olu Verheijen, last Thursday in Abuja, Naija News reports.

In a terse statement, however, issued on Sunday night, AEDC stated that the latest tariff review was due to the fluctuation of the Naira in the exchange rate.

The statement read: “Effective July 1st 2023, please be informed that there will be an upward review to the electricity tariff influenced by the fluctuating exchange rate.”

“Under the MYTO 2022 guidelines, the previously set exchange rate of N441/$1 may now be revised to approximately N750/$1, which will have an impact on the tariffs associated with your electricity consumption.”

“For customers within bands B and C, with supply hours ranging from 12 to 16 per day, the new base tariff is expected to be N100 per kWh while Bands A with (20 hours and above) and B (16 to 20 hours) will experience comparatively higher tariffs.

“For customers with a prepaid meter, we encourage you to consider purchasing bulk energy units before the end of this month, as this will allow you to take advantage of the current rates and potentially make savings before the new tariffs come into effect.

“For those on post-paid (estimated) billing, a significant increment is imminent in your monthly billing, starting from August.”