The National Council on Power has adopted a cost-reflective tariff for electricity consumption to reduce the country’s N200 bn monthly electricity subsidy.
This was contained in a communique issued by the Ministry of Power at the just-concluded 6th edition of the National Council on Power held in Maiduguri, Borno State.
The National Council on Power is the highest decision-making body for the power sector, comprising the Federal Government, states, the private sector, and other stakeholders.
The council adopted the view that subsidies must still exist for the vulnerable but must be targeted and well-administered at a manageable and sustainable level.
The council also adopted that market liabilities must be apportioned to all parties, which will be subject to thorough engagements to ensure assets and liabilities apply to all parties.
The Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, had repeatedly cautioned that the monthly N200bn electricity subsidy was no longer sustainable.
Adelabu said tariffs would be reviewed based on bands, saying only Band A customers pay the real cost of electricity.
At the conference themed ‘Consolidating Reforms for a Sustainable Energy Future in Nigeria’, the Minister of Power presided over the council meeting, while the Permanent Secretary, Mr Mahmuda Mamman, chaired the plenary/technical sessions.
With over 400 delegates drawn from the public and private sectors and civil society organisations in attendance, the council adopted that the Nigerian Electricity Management Services Agency should continuously engage with the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission to ensure a rise in capital expenditure.
NEMSA is also to engage the power minister and NERC to ensure that distribution companies recapitalise to resolve challenges at the transmission-distribution and distribution-utilisation interfaces to enhance grid stability.
The council also agreed that for a bold agenda for market transformation to enhance Nigeria’s power sector efficiency through strategic market reforms and innovation, NBET should continuously engage stakeholders, especially at the sub-national level, to review and represent its submission in line with NBET’s upcoming status.
The communique added that on the request by the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources (Gas) for the development and implementation of the Renewable Energy Initiative and the creation of an Inter-Agency Renewable Energy Task Force, there is an existing renewable and energy efficiency policy driven by the power ministry, stating that this should be shared with the Ministry of Petroleum Resources (Gas), the Ministry of Environment, the National Council on Climate Change, and others for proper coordination of the policies;
The need to consider constructing additional double-circuit 330/132kV transmission lines to reinforce the power supply to the North-East was also adopted.