The last is yet to be heard on the reduction of electricity tariff by the Enugu Electricity Regulatory Commission, EERC.
NATIONAL POST reported that the EERC, in its Multi-Year-Tariff Order, slashed the tariff of Band A to N160.4 per kilowatt-hour from N209.
The new tariff is expected to be effective from August 1, 2025.
There has been opposition to the tariff change, with both the generating companies and Discos all kicking against it.
The power ministry had also described it as unacceptable.
Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, has now joined in rejecting the tariff change.
According to NERC, it is engaging EERC over the electricity tariff slash controversy.
NERC made this known in a notice on Thursday.
Reacting to the controversy, NERC, which handed EERC regulatory power in line with the 2023 electricity act, said state governments do not have jurisdiction over the national grid or over electric power stations established under federal laws or operating under licences it issued.
NERC advised state governments to reflect the wholesale costs in tariffs or be ready to pay subsidies for any tariff shortfall.
“As states do not have jurisdiction over the national grid and over electric power stations established under federal laws/operating under licences issued by the commission, they must holistically incorporate the wholesale costs of grid supply to their states without any qualification or deviation in their design of tariffs for end-use customers in order not to distort the dynamics of the market or be prepared to make a policy intervention by way of a subsidy for any deviation in the tariff structure that distorts the wholesale generation, transmission, and legacy financing costs in the Nigeria Electricity Supply Industry,” it stated.
NERC informed all stakeholders that “the commission is currently engaging EERC on their tariff order as it relates to any perceived area of misinterpretation/misunderstanding on wholesale generation and transmission costs on their import of power from the national grid and grants further assurances of its unwavering statutory commitment that the electricity market will be made whole in terms of cost recovery in compliance with the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”