Capped Tariff Costing DisCos N14bn Monthly

The power sector is denied N13.9bn revenue monthly as a result of the capping on estimated electricity bills by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, power distribution companies stated on Thursday.

Electricity distribution companies are the revenue collection outfits of Nigeria’s power sector.

This came as the Discos called for realistic indices before the implementation of the proposed service reflective tariff, which would have been implemented from July 1.

The Managing Director, Abuja Electricity Distribution Company, Ernest Mupwaya, disclosed this when he made a presentation on behalf of the Discos at a public hearing by the House of Representatives Committee on Power.

He said there were some outstanding requirements before the service reflective tariff could be implemented.

“One of them is the removal of estimated billing caps. The financial impact of the Capping Order is an average loss of N13.9bn monthly, thereby, undermining or jeopardising the minimum remittance requirement,” Mupwaya stated.

The July 1 service tariff implementation was halted by members of the National Assembly, who prevailed on the Discos to shelve the date to the first quarter of 2021 due to the current economic challenges in Nigeria.