THE Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has mulled plans to increase electricity tariffs as it seeks to conclude the Extraordinary Tariff Review process for the country’s 11 electricity distribution companies.
This is contained in a notice posted to its website on Monday, April 26.
The Commission expressed its readiness to commence the processes for a minor review of the tariff in July, based on “changes in inflation, foreign exchange, gas prices, and available generation capacity,” among other factors.
The NERC is, however, soliciting “the general public on the proposed reviews.”
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NERC is mandated under the provisions of the Electric Power Sector Reform Act (“EPSRA”) to review electricity tariffs in Nigeria every six months (minor) and five years (major).
Reviews can also be carried out whenever “industry parameters have changed from those used in the operating tariffs to such an extent that a review is urgently required to maintain the viability of the industry.”
Earlier in April, the Federal Government had apologised to Nigerians over power outages and shortages in various parts of the country.
According to a statement from the Federal Ministry of Power, the outages were caused by the breakdown of some National Integrated Power Plants (NIPP) supplying electricity to the national grid, the Federal Ministry of Power explained in a statement on Thursday.
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