Ikeja Electric Customers to Pay New Tariffs from July 1

By Dipo Olowookere

The management of Ikeja Electric Plc has said it will implement the revised electricity tariff from Wednesday, July 1, 2020.

A statement from the leading electricity distribution company on Friday stated that the new tariffs will enable all the market players (generation, transmission, distribution and gas suppliers) in the Nigeria electricity supply industry cover cost of their operations and ensure improved service delivery.

According to IE, the new tariffs, which are service reflective, are end-user rates to be paid for electricity based on the level of service (including availability and reliability) provided to a cluster of customers.

It explained that henceforth, energy customers will now be categorised into maximum demand customers (MD) and non-maximum demand (non-MD) customers, and no longer the usual residential, commercial and industrial customer classes.

“All customers have now been clustered into different bands depending on the level of service currently being enjoyed,” the firm stated.

This, it stated, was in line with its Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) across the entire network in the coming months and years.

“The different service levels to all categories of electricity consumers will also be accompanied by a change in tariff which has taken into cognizance changes in macroeconomic indices in the country,” it added.

“The plan is for the sector to gradually make a transition to a full cost-recovery market where the cost of services provided will be fully recovered.

“Services are also expected to improve within a very short time in customer service delivery, infrastructural upgrade, metering and technological solutions based on the level of investments that will be attracted, going forward,” Ikeja Electric explained.

The electricity company noted that customers who are in the higher band currently being provided with good electricity supply will be expected to pay the true costs of the services being enjoyed, while customers who are within the lower band and are not receiving optimal services would be expected to pay a much lower tariff pending improvements in services and the movement to a higher tariff band reflecting improved service delivery.

“As usual, the company remains committed to bridging the metering gap and reducing the incidence of estimated bills. In recent times, we have doubled our efforts to realize our objective of metering our unmetered customers within the shortest possible time.

“We also note that complaints resolution by customers have been a concern in the past but this is set to improve as we move forward with this new tariff regime

“Lastly, this tariff implementation is subject to the approval of the regulator but it is necessary for performance improvement expected by customers,” Ikeja Electric, which thanked its customers “for your understanding,” stated in the statement.