A little background

The power and electricity tariff situation has been concerning for Nigerians for decades, and the discussions around it have become more intense in recent years. A few incidents of power grid collapses have been recorded in the past few months that have thrown different regions of the country in darkness for weeks. In 2022, the Nigerian power grid collapsed a total of 8 times.

The current situation

There has been speculation about the removal of the electricity subsidy for a while now. The Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, recently intimated that electricity subsidy will cost about 2 trillion naira this year, but only 450 billion naira was budgeted. This is why it is not entirely surprising that the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), on Tuesday, 2nd April, announced an upward rate review from ₦68 per kilowatt hour to ₦225 per kilowatt hour for Band A Consumers. Band A comprises about 15% of the population but consumes about 40% of Nigeria’s electricity capacity.

In simpler terms, what essentially happened is that the government removed the electricity subsidy only for citizens who use the most power to help manage ballooning electricity subsidy costs and reduce the pressure on the country’s finances. The bands are classified based on the hours of electricity received per day. Here is a look at the different bands;

• Band A: Minimum of 20 Hours
• Band B: Minimum of 16 Hours
• Band C: Minimum of 12 Hours
• Band D: Minimum of 8 Hours
• Band E: Minimum of 4 Hours

What this means for you

As an electricity consumer in the Bands B to E range, your electricity tariff remains the same. For those in the Band A range, you will likely notice that your electricity consumption has increased considerably. It is important now to take note of your household appliances and which ones are using up the bulk of your electricity. The list below shows the number of hours to consume 1 unit – [1KWH] worth of electricity which now costs N225 on BAND A, this will help you better plan your power consumption:

{Source: Ikeja Electric via Oloye Adesina Odeleye }

Final words

The writing seems to be on the wall, and we may see more electricity tariff increases in the next few months meaning that monitoring your energy consumption and remembering to switch off appliances that are not in use is a good habit to get into during this period. For residential and commercial communities, the Venco Smart meters are a great tool to monitor power and water usage for residents. You can send an email to operations@venco.co or visit https://www.venco.africa/ for more information.