2 weeks ago
4
The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has reiterated its committedness to ensuring Band A customers person a minimum of 20 hours of energy proviso daily, with automatic compensation triggered if organisation companies neglect to conscionable this standard.
This enforcement aims to support consumers and heighten transparency successful the powerfulness sector.
NERC officials made these commitments connected the Electricity Town Hall vigor programme, which focused connected the Service-based Tariff successful the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI).
They besides disclosed the commission’s plans to gradually amended energy proviso to different lawsuit bands.
During the discussion, the main manager of the Economic Regulatory Division, Engr. Olisa Chukwuma said, “The committee designed this model to guarantee that what customers wage corresponds with the level of work they receive. The instauration of this argumentation is the availability of infrastructure to service people.
“That is wherefore customers were classified into 5 wide categories. Band A guarantees a minimum of 20 hours of proviso daily, Band B 16 hours, Band C 12 hours, Band D 8 hours, and Band E 4 hours.”
Chukwuma noted that nationalist involvement successful the set structure, introduced successful 2020, accrued successful 2024 owed to clearer distinctions betwixt Band A and different categories. He advised customers to verify their work bands via their energy organisation companies’ websites.
According to him, each DisCos indispensable supply a portal for customers to cheque their feeder details and work set utilizing their metre oregon relationship numbers, ensuring transparency and monitoring of proviso hours.
Also speaking, elder manager astatine NERC’s Economic Regulation Division, Abdulaziz Aloba, said the Commission tracks DisCos’ show regular and applies sanctions wherever necessary.
He said: “If you are a Band A customer, you are expected to get an mean of 20 hours of proviso regular successful a month. Where a DisCo fails to conscionable that, customers are automatically compensated. If specified nonaccomplishment persists for implicit 7 days, that feeder is downgraded to the due set that reflects the existent proviso received.”
Aloba explained that NERC monitors powerfulness transportation utilizing information from aggregate sources, including the Nigerian System Operator (NSO) and Market Operator (MO), successful summation to autarkic verification by the commission.
For his part, the lawman manager, Economic Regulation Division, Gbenga Osho, said “Customers who privation improved work tin marque ceremonial representations to their DisCos and whitethorn transcript the Commission for transparency. But migration is taxable to disposable infrastructure. Service levels are tied to concern capacity, not conscionable lawsuit preference.”
The lawman manager, Stakeholder Management Division, Simon Sunday, explained that the Commission approves set classifications solely aft verifying that DisCos person the requisite infrastructure to present the required minimum hours.
He said, “Before we o.k. immoderate Band A feeder, we guarantee that the organisation institution has the capableness to supply astatine slightest 20 hours of proviso daily.
“For instance, a DisCo whitethorn use for support of 1,000 feeders, but aft our review, we mightiness lone o.k. 500 based connected existent infrastructure readiness.”
Sunday emphasised that portion Band A customers presently wage a tariff of N209.50 per kilowatt hour, the Commission continues to reappraisal tariffs monthly based connected macroeconomic indicators specified arsenic inflation, overseas speech rates, and procreation costs.
“When the Band A tariff started successful April 2024, it was N225 per kilowatt hour. It was aboriginal adjusted downward to N209.50, and it has remained unchangeable for astir a twelvemonth owed to authorities subsidy management.
“The extremity is not to punish customers but to guarantee just pricing that reflects work quality”, helium said.
English (US) ·