NERC Faults Budgetary Request for PHCN

The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has said requests for budgetary provisions for the privatized successor companies of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) in the 2013 financial year by the National Assembly was unfounded.

NERC that such budgetary demands and justification for the Federal Government to fund the privatized electricity distribution companies beyond 2012 were not necessary considering the existence of the new Multi Year Tariff Order (MYTO-2) methodology. The commission said in a statement from its Assistant General Manager, Media, Maryam Abubakar, that the tariff methodology which was currently in use had provided for the distribution companies to be self-sustaining, stating that it could confirm that some distribution companies were actually meeting up with its financial obligations.

The House of Representatives had recently decried the lack of budgetary provisions for privatized PHCN successor companies in the 2013 budget.The House argued that additional funding for these electricity companies should be made despite the ongoing privatization process which would see new owners take over the companies by mid-2013. They had explained that there was a need to fund these companies in order for them to meet their capital spending obligations.

But NERC noted that the MYTO-2 was computed in a manner to allow the distribution companies pay for the energy delivered to them, meet up with their operational expenditures (OPEX) as well as their capital expenditures (CAPEX). The commission explained that statistics within its possession shows that since the introduction of the MYTO-2 in June this year, one of the companies, Eko Distribution Company was in November 2012, finally able to meet all its OPEX and CAPEX obligations, as well as settle its energy bill, all without subsidy intervention.

New electricity tariff coming soon – NERC

The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, has announced impending review of the newly deployed Multi-Year Tariff Order, MYTO.
It said this was necessary following a series of complaints from electricity consumers, especially Small and Medium Enterprises, about high fixed fee they must pay every month irrespective of the power situation within any particular month.
Executive Commissioner, Government and Consumer Affairs at the NERC, Dr. Abba Ibrahim, confirmed this to newsmen. Abba said having received the complaints, the commission had put a process in motion to resolve the complaints of the SMEs, adding that the new tariff regime provided for review mechanism in case of such complaints.
He also insisted that the distribution companies across the country must provide meters to all customers in the next 13 months as ordered by the regulatory agency in June.