Here is where you fall as electricity tariff goes up

The recent decision by Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) to increase tariff payable by electricity customers has left many residents are wondering how this will impact their wallets.

Musliu Oseni, vice-chairman of NERC, announced the approval during a press conference in Abuja on Wednesday.

Oseni said customers under the classification, who receive 20 hours of electricity supply daily, will pay N225 per kilowatt (kW), starting from April 3 — up from N66.

“The commission sat and reviewed further the application by the distribution companies and have decided that only the 17 percent feeders and less than 15 percent customers will be affected by any rate increase that the commission will ever approve for the DisCos,” Oseni said.

“Further to that, the commission has issued an order titled ‘April 2024 Supplementary Order’ which is supplementary to the order issued in December, effective January 2024.

“So, the April Supplementary order takes effect from today and in that order, the commission has approved a rate review of N225 per kilowatt-hour for just under 50 percent of the customer population in NESI,” Oseni said.

Here is a list of the different types of electricity consumers, based on Bands:

Band A: This category includes residential consumers which are typically high-income households or commercial establishments that have between 20 to 24 hours of electricity supply. They pay the highest tariff rates at N225/KWh.

Band B: Residential consumers in this category have between 16 to 20 hours of electricity supply.

Band C: This includes residential consumers whose households use between 12 to 16 hours of electricity supply.

Band D: Residential consumers in this category use between 8 to 12 hours of electricity daily.

Band E: This category includes residential consumers who have between 4 to 8 hours of electricity daily.