Small and Medium Enterprises hampered by high fixed electricity charges will get a new tariff within two months, the Chairman, Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, Dr. Sam Amadi, has said.
Amadi, who confirmed the development in a telephone interview with our correspondent in Abuja on Wednesday, said the process had begun and would, likely, be completed within two months.
The NERC chairman also confirmed that the Minister of Trade and Investment, Mr. Olusegun Aganga, had requested to be part of the negotiations leading to the new fixed electricity charge for SMEs.
He said, "We have obtained evidence for the review and we are on it. I want Nigerians to know that these regulations are based on rules. Adjustment of tariff can be done in two days but regulation takes time.
"The Minister of Trade and Investment has called to be part of the process of negotiating the new fixed charges. We are going to hold public consultation on this. It is something we are paying attention to. The process will be concluded in one or two months."
The Multi Year Tariff Order II billing system, which became operational on June 1, 2012, comes with different fixed rates for different categories of customers and varies according to the location of the customer.
Several SMEs have been complaining about the fixed rates they are required to pay every month in addition to the cost of the electricity they consume.
While some SMEs complained that they were being treated as industrial consumers, others said the fixed cost should be floating along the quantum of electricity they consumed on monthly basis.
Amadi had at a press briefing to round off 2012 confirmed The PUNCH's earlier report that the regulatory commission was reviewing the fixed charges paid for electricity by the SMEs.
He said only fixed charges on SMEs were being reviewed to enable the operators in the sector to continue their businesses following their complaints that the charges were strangulating them.
Amadi said the review of the MYTO showed that there was no sufficient reason to review the general tariffs.
According to him, factors that are considered in the minor review permitted in the MYTO II model are the exchange rate, inflation rate, cost of gas, and capacity of the industry.
While the first three were relatively stable as projected when MYTO was formulated, the actual power produced within the first six months of operating the new rates was higher than the projected capacity.
While 3,500 Megawatts of electricity had been estimated, the actual quantity produced at the time of the review was 4,200MW.
However, Amadi said this did not warrant a review of the general tariffs.
The purpose of the tariff was not to make SMEs disappear, he said, adding that the review would not affect the revenue projections of the electricity distribution companies.
