Nigerians to pay more electricity as NERC increases price of metre

By our reporter/ Nigerians will from Monday pay more for electricity as the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has jerked up the price for single phase and three phase metres.

According to a letter addressed to the Managing Directors of the DisCos by NERC on 11th November 2021 (Thursday), a single phase meter has risen by N13,766 per unit from N44,896.17 to N58,661.69 while a three phase meter will now sell for N109,684.36 which is N26,829 increase from the current N82,855.19.

However, these costs are not with the 7.5 percent Value Added Tax (VAT) which the DisCos will include at the point of sale.

With the 7.5% VAT, a single meter will now have N4,400 as VAT to sell at N63,061.69 while a three phase meter will have additional N8,227 for VAT to sell for N117,911.36.

The N18,166 and N35,227 – plus Valued Added Tax (VAT) increases in the prices of the meters are coming ahead of the Phase 1 of the federal government’s National Mass Metering Programme (NMMP) and the Meter Assets Provider (MAP), another existing metering scheme.

Justifying the increase, the power regulator said: “Pursuant to the provisions of the MAP and NMM Regulation, NERC noted the recent changes in macro-economic parameters and hereby approves an upward review of unit price of meters.”

NERC in the letter signed by the Chairman, Engr. Sanusi Garba, said the Commission arrived at the approved unit price by considering the rise in the foreign exchange (forex) and inflation rate since the last review in June 2020.

“The price review is subject to change upon the conclusion of the procurement process under phase 1 of the NMMP. This price review is effective from 15th November 2021,” the regulator added.

Electricity consumers faced multiple increases in the prices of meters in June 2020 when NERC hiked the price by about 14%. While the meter price increased due to the new 7.5% VAT, it further increased in July following forex challenges.

According to the pricing template in April 2020, a single phase meter sold for N39,991.50 while a three phase meter went for N67,055.85. However, with the pricing template of NERC in June 2020, the single phase meter rose to N44,896.17 while the three phase meter sold for N82,855.19.