DISCOs Rue New Electricity Tariff Suspension

The Electricity
Distribution Companies in Nigeria have said that the Senate’s resolution on the 45 per cent tariff increment would impact negatively on Nigerians.
The eleven DISCOs who spoke under the aegis of the Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors (ANED) said the Senate’s suspension of the new tariff in its recent resolution would not only leave the country in continued darkness but would also diminish the prospects of growth of the nation’s economy.
ANED which declared its position Friday stressed that the new tariff would guarantee adequate investments in the sector which it said would in turn lead to a reduction of tariff in the future.
The statement said, “the Senate on February 16 passed a resolution directing the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) to suspend the recently implemented electricity tariff (MYTO-2015).
“However, implementation of this resolution is not without consequences and the following are a few of them. A market priced tariff is a fundamental  requirement under the agreements signed between distribution company (DISCO) operators in the Nigeria Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) and the Bureau for Public Enterprises (BPE), raising the concern for sanctity of contract.
“Such a failure will be at a price that the government can ill-afford in these times of dire economic challenges”, ANED said.
It would be recalled that DISCOs and NERC went ahead to implement the new controversial tariff as against the order from House of Representative to halt the implementation pending the outcome of the House Committee on Power’s investigations and order of the High Court restraining the implementation.
This situation was rejected by Nigerian masses who were led by Nigerian Labour Congress on a one-day nation-wide warning protest, hence the Senate, in its resolution, suspended implementation of the controversial tariff.

Chris Oluoh