The Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, has said that the federal government will sanction power distribution companies (DisCos) that fail to supply 20 hours of electricity to customers in the Band A category.
This is contained in a post made by Adelabu on Tuesday in his official X (formerly Twitter) account.
The Minister said this is part of the adjustments made under the newly revised tariff system targeted at electricity consumers under the Band A category.
Recall that the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) recently increased the electricity tariffs of customers under Band A category from N66/kWh to N225.kWh.
According to the NERC, Band A customers are those electricity users who enjoy power supply for a minimum of 20 hours daily.
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Reacting to the development, the Minister said the government will hold DisCos accountable for failure to supply 20 hours of electricity to customers under Band A.
Highlighting some of the provisions under the tariff adjustment reform, Adelabu noted:
“Federal Government to save N1.5 trillion with tariff adjustment. Federal Government still subsidizing Bands below A.
Pricing changes will help increase liquidity to the NESI. DisCos will be sanctioned for supplying less than 20 hours electricity to Band A customers.”
Presidential Power Initiative
Furthermore, Adelabu said that the pilot stage of the presidential power initiative has almost been completed, noting that installation and commissioning of five out of 10 power transformers have been achieved.
He said seven new mobile substations are set to be installed, after which the focus will shift to upgrading the transmission network to increase its capacity.
“Next phase involves upgrading capacity of the transmission network. It will involve upgrading existing transmission substations, upgrading transformers, and the reconducting and installation of transmission lines,” he added.
Backstory
Nairemetrics had reported that the NERC announced a new electricity tariff increase for customers in the Band A category from N66/kWh to N225kWh.
The commission noted that these are elite customers enjoying electricity supply for the minimum of 20 hours daily.
In addition, NERC also ordered the distribution companies to comply with the new directives, ensuring that all customers are informed of their respective categories on April 11.
The commission further noted that failure to comply with the new directive by the Discos will attract sanctions and penalties.
Notably, the commission fined Abuja Disco N20 million for wrongfully billing Band B customers with Band A electricity tariff rate.
