Plans have been concluded to increase electricity tariffs by as much as 40 per cent for some customers next month as a fall in the value of the naira and rising costs hinder efforts to end daily blackouts in Africa’s largest economy.
“We are working on the numbers and going through the processes,” Bloomberg quoted the Chairman, Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, Dr. Sam Amadi, as saying.
According to him, some tariffs will increase by five per cent, while others will see prices raised as much as 40 per cent, depending on the electricity distribution companies and class of customer, adding that the change in rates would take place mid-November.
After proposing to NERC last week an average increase of 49.4 per cent in electricity tariffs for residential customers, the power distribution companies have also sought a hike in the rates payable by commercial consumers by 21 per cent on the average. Their demands, however, are subject to approval by NERC, the regulator of the power industry.