11 March 2015, Lagos – Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has offered to review the Muti-Year Tariff Order (MYTO), following the threat of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) to shut down operations.
Chairman, NERC, Dr. Sam Amadi, after a forum with the association, noted that the commission “will ensure that price does not destroy the industrial base of” Nigeria.
He described MAN as the best partner of the commission for articulating its position in a very civil manner due to its trust for the regulator to balance the facts.
Amadi stated: “The bottom line is that they have a good case and they have witnessed sharp increase. Whether sharp increase or escalation, NERC is going back to review the causer factors, including loss and projections to see a way to bring down the price.”
MAN had asked the commission that the fixed charge should be reduced from the initial average of N250,000 to N25,000 particularly for Small and Medium Industries (SMEs) across board.
MAN’s President, Frank Udemba Jacobs, who presented the position of the association, sought that the fixed price should be pro-rated, based on the amount of energy consumed by companies.
He requested that the manufacturers should continue to operate the old MYTO rate, pending the life of its tenure of 2017. The association also asked that NERC should consider a uniform tariff for all manufacturers in Nigeria regardless of wherever they may be located, rather than giving some companies a preferential lower advantage over the others because of their geographical location.
He observed that the MYTO 2012 -2017 that was meant to run for five years formed the basis of their long term planning which the commission’s sudden increase has now seriously interrupted. MAN asked the commission to prevail on the Electricity Distribution Companies (Discos) not to disconnect the manufacturers for the outstanding debt.
The commission commenced a new tariff regime in on January 1, this year with a tariff increase that the association described as unfair and astronomical, refusing to pay it. On the issue of disconnecting, Amadi noted that no Disco would be allowed to disconnect consumers without following due process.
He said: “You have to give them notice and if they contest that notice for other reasons you have to follow other processes.
– Newswatch Times
