With the removal of fixed charge in monthly electricity bills, consumers are now the ones to determine their bills, so said one of the 11 distribution companies, the Port Harcourt Distribution Company (PHED). The new tariff comes into effect on Monday, February 1, 2016.
The new chief executive officer (CEO) of PHED, Jay McCoskey, who replaced Jon Abbas, told news men at the quarterly pres briefing at Swiss International Hotel in Trans-Amadi area that better services would be the hallmark of the new electricity regime.
He said the increase in what people paid before and now would be not more than 35 per cent. He said the Disco would also introduce energy efficient solutions such as special light bulbs into the market to help users manage their consumption.
According to him, with the introduction of these energy efficient appliances, customers’ actual consumption would be the determining factor on the bills that customers pay.
He noted that this was the reason why PHED would intensify its mass metering programme as studies have shown that with pre-paid meters, electricity users consume between 12-15 per cent less electricity than those using post-paid meters.
McCoskey also said the company would deliver improved services for its customers and also implement a 24-hour customer services and easier payment systems into the network.
Also speaking at the event, the Chief Legal and Regulatory Officer, PHED, Nancy Abdala, stated that the new electricity tariff addresses issues usually raised by customers on fixed charges, high electricity bills and meter provision.
According to her, with the removal by the regulatory body of fixed charges, the new tariff includes all costs, so customers only pay this new tariff per unit consumed meaning that a consumer would be the one to determine his consumption.
Under the new tariff approved by Nigerian Electricity Regulation Commission (NERC) single phase residential customers would now pay N24.91 per unit with no fixed charge, as against N15.09 per unit.
Rural customers (those who consume less than 50Kw/h every month) also known as R1, have their tariff unchanged at N4.00. In addition, commercial customers classified as C1, C2 and C3, would now pay an all-inclusive charge of N35.88, N43.72 and N44.30; while industrial customers classified as D1, D2 and D3 pay an all-inclusive charge of 36.19, 44.01 and 44.59 per unit.
According to Abdala, the new tariff is actually not what is required to meet market costs today as it is based on a 10-year plan in which certain costs of service will not be recovered today but at a later time during the space of ten years.
She further stated that many variables were also considered by NERC in arriving at the new tariff and they include; foreign exchange rate, gas prices, rate of inflation and generation capacity, in addition to increase in the generation and transmission costs.
The company explained further at the press conference that the new tariffs and the resulting revenue will help to progress the necessary infrastructural improvement from generation to transmission and the local distribution networks like PHED. It added that the ultimate goal is to provide the electric infrastructure to power Nigeria’s future.
