No going back on electricity tariff hike come July 1 – AEDC

The Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) Sunday insisted there is no going back on its planned electricity tariff hike across its franchise states, which it said commences July 1, 2023, as earlier announced.

The plan generated reactions from Nigerians when the news broke, even as President Bola Ahmed Tinubu-allayed fears in a statement issued last week.

The statement assured the nation’s power supply would improve before any tariff hike.

Permanent Secretary Ministry of Power Temitope Fashedemi said this during a meeting with the Special Adviser to the President on Energy, Ms Olu Verheijen.

But in a terse statement issued Sunday night in Abuja, the AEDC said the latest tariff review was due to the fluctuation of the naira in the exchange rate.

READ ALSO: HURIWA carpets FG over proposed 40% electricity tariff hike

“Effective July 1st 2023, please be informed that there will be an upward review to the electricity tariff influenced by the fluctuating exchange rate.

“Under the MYTO 2022 guidelines, the previously set exchange rate of N441/$1 may now be revised to approximately N750/$1, which will have an impact on the tariffs associated with your electricity consumption.

“For customers within bands B and C, with supply hours ranging from 12 to 16 per day, the new base tariff is expected to be N100 per kWh while Bands A with (20 hours and above) and B (16 to 20 hours) will experience comparatively higher tariffs.

“For customers with a prepaid meter, we encourage you to consider purchasing bulk energy units before the end of this month, as this will allow you to take advantage of the current rates and potentially make savings before the new tariffs come into effect.

“For those on post-paid (estimated) billing, a significant increment is imminent in your monthly billing, starting from August,” the statement said.