Power Minister Assures Of Reduction In Electricity Tariff

The Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, has assured Nigerians of the reduction of electricity tariff nationwide.

He said the ministry would continue to ramp up the generation and distribution of electricity nationwide, the country will achieve economies of scale, leading to a gradual fall in tariffs.

Adelabu said the recent rise in electricity tariffs for Band ‘A’ customers was temporary hardship, expressing optimism that the tariff will drop gradually as the country’s power sector increases its output.

Speaking at the sectoral briefing by ministers in Abuja, organised by the Ministry of Information, the minister stated that the cost-reflective tariffs for the premium customers were introduced to drive liquidity in the sector.

According to him, “The electricity tariff might look expensive at the moment. But I’m optimistic that these tariffs will go down. We know how much we were buying sim cards when telecoms companies just came. We knew how much we were buying telephones.

“But gradually as we scale up in generation, transmission and distribution, these prices will also go down. It’s a temporary hardship that will lead to a permanent gain,” Adelabu said.
He also highlighted that the government had facilitated enhanced service levels in the sector as Discos now address customer complaints promptly.

“In distribution, our Discos are more responsive and active. Today, Discos will send you information and updates of power outages at a given period of time. Now, they have woken up to their responsibility because of improved regulatory oversights.

“For the first time in the history of Nigeria, we have what is called guaranteed improved service level. It might be for Band ‘A’ today, but no government has ever guaranteed 20 hours of supply not to even 1 percent of consumers. But to 15 percent of  consumers, we said let us start from here.

“And we have guaranteed service level for Band ‘A’ customers with the introduction of cost-reflective tariffs to that Band, a key liquidity condition suitable for driving investment,” he noted.