OpeOluwani Akintayo
13 January 2018, Sweetcrude, Benin — The Benin Electricity Distribution Company, BEDC, has insisted on an increment of electricity tariffs.
In a statement, Chief executive officer of Benin Distribution Company, BEDC, Mrs. Funke Osibodu said tariff hike is expected to take off any moment from now.
According to her, the current tariff structure does not support the operations of distribution companies, DisCos and therefore cannot be maintained.
“Implementation of the Multi-Year Tariff Order, MYTO, is key to promoting quality services and efficiency in the system”, she added.
The MYTO is a tariff system designed for the Nigerian Electricity Market to provide a unified way to determine efficient total industry revenue requirement, and provide a 15 year tariff path in the power sector with minor reviews each year due to certain factors such as gas prices, exchange rate and inflation, and major reviews every five years, when all inputs are discussed with stakeholders.
The MYTO is also used to set wholesale and retail prices in the Nigerian Electricity Market.
On the 18th December 2015, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, set a new tariff for DisCos for 2015-2024, which requires consumers in different categories and location to pay different charges for each.
However, NERC claims it is yet to implement the new tariff which supports a 42 percent hike in price.
