Business

NERC: No electricity customer should pay more than metered neigbours

Published

4 years ago

November 27, 2020

The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) says the Federal Government introduced the capping in the estimated billing for unmetered customers to ensure uniformity with their metered counterparts.

Commissioner in charge of Legal, Licensing and Compliance, Mr Dafe Akpeneye, said this at a web conference organised by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), adding that the development was temporary because no customer should pay more than their metered neighbours in the same vicinity and under a similar classification.

He also said that since the Discos failed in their responsibility to meter customers, the only option was to resort to estimation.

He said, “The issue of estimated billing came about as a bridge to manage the interests of the utilities’ interest of providing power and the customers’ interest of paying for power.

“Under an ideal situation, the meter is an assurance that the utility should get paid for what it delivers and the customer pays for what he consumes. But we have found ourselves in a situation whereby when the assets were handed over, metering wasn’t a priority when the utilities were owned by the Federal Government.

“And if you look at the Nigerian demographics, with the way the population is expanding, rapid urbanisation with new connections coming to the grid, the metering of these customers has become a problem.

“One of the key requirements is for the Discos to bridge the metering gap because the problem we had to deal with was because of their inability to do that on time. We had to balance the fact that customers receive power without meter and devise a way to make sure customers have electricity without having a meter.

“Therefore, the estimated billing methodology was introduced . But that was supposed to be temporary, certain things were not done. So, estimated billing became the number one consumer complaint in the industry.”

The NERC stated that exiting the estimated billing regime is impossible for now, adding that since it is not practicable to meter everyone at once, the practice will continue for a while until the issues are resolved.

“Because we realised that meters can’t be rolled out for everyone, something had to be done to balance it out. Some measure of fair estimation had to be put in place.

“The commission developed the capping order. What this seeks to try to create is parity between metered customers and unmetered customers. So, we have someone who lives in a duplex in a certain part of town who is unmetered and we created a scenario whereby one who is unmetered does not pay more than the metered, so that they both pay almost the same thing,” he added.

In his intervention, the Director General, Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), Mr Alex Okoh, said the privatisation of the power sector in Nigeria remains the most ambitious of its type in Africa.

According to him, though the sector is not where it should be because of lack of investments, it has improved since it was handed over to private individuals to manage.

He said, “South Africa has 4,904 kwh per capita while Nigeria has 300kwh per capita. Now for the biggest economy in Africa, that says a lot.

“This sort of challenges prompted the bold decision to reform the power sector. So, in 2005, ESPRA was enacted and essentially was geared towards breaking the monopoly of NEPA.

“It was also to make the sector attractive. That particular action led to the unbundling to Gencos, TCN and Discos. Prior to this , electricity was generally poor. We are talking 1,500mw across the value chain.

“Post-privatisation, we have seen significant improvement and impact of privatisation of the power sector. We are just 10 years.

“There are interventions that are currently going on to correct some of the shortcomings of the privatisation exercise. Let’s not also forget that the power sector privatisation in Nigeria is perhaps the biggest privatisation programme in the continent of Africa.

“Were we rather overambitious in this privatisation. I don’t think so. Could we have taken a modulated approach to it? Maybe. But I think the decision was bold to address the lack of investment in the sector.”

In his remarks, former Minister of Power, Prof. Barth Nnaji, said government must strive to draw private sector investment to ensure sustainable supply of power.

He stated that with the right environment, the Discos can conveniently pay for power, as was shown by Eko and a few others at a point, adding that the bulk trading arrangement should be jettisoned once the Discos become credit worthy.

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Yuletide: Chisco deploys new luxury, mini buses, top quality services

Published

1 day ago

January 1, 2025

Trends Admin

Yuletide: Chisco deploys new luxury, mini buses, top quality services

…hails Tinubu for 50% fare rebate

Nigeria’s Transport Company of the Year, Chisco Transport Ltd, has deployed in various routes nationwide its newly procured new luxury and mini buses with the latest innovative features in the industry.

It assured the travelling public of safe and top quality services on all its routes this Christmas/New Year season, and beyond.

It stated this in a statement released on Tuesday, adding that the company, which had been one of the country’s front runners in long distance passenger transportation and logistics for over 45 years, recently inaugurated about four new branches in order to bring its services closer to its teeming customers.

It listed some of the new branches that had helped to boost service delivery this Yuletide season as in Awka, Enugu, and on Okota Road (near Cele Bus Stop on Oshodi-Apapa expressway), Lagos.

It stated, “This is in addition to embarking on a comprehensive maintenance of the existing fleet of buses in order to ensure they are in roadworthy shape for trips across Nigeria and the Lagos-Cotonou-Lome-Accra international route.

“Apart from advanced safety features like real-time GPS tracking and efficient safety systems, the new-look Chisco Transport fleet, featuring state-of-the-art buses, has all it takes to guarantee that passengers travel in style with their comfort and safety prioritised this season.”

It stated that the updated fleet had enhanced the popular Chisco 24 to 48-hour nationwide mail and parcel services.

All these, the leading transport solutions and logistics provider said, are part of deliberate efforts to ensure seamless and comfortable bus and logistic services to the customers during the 2024 Yuletide season and thereafter.

Chisco’s Head of Business Operations, Mr Buchi Ochuba, in the statement explained that the same commitment to ensuring safe and comfortable trips out of major cities and towns before Christmas, would also be deployed to return journeys in the new year.

He said that the management was aware that the huge investments the company had been making towards upscaling its services recently earned it the Transport Company of the Year at the recent Nigeria Auto Journalists Association (NAJA) Awards in Lagos.

Ochuba reiterated Chisco Transport’s resolve to sustain the high standards that earned the company an enviable reputation, as well as continue investments in safety and comfort of travellers that have earned it the confidence of the travelling public and the auto journalists’ award.

“We appreciate the fact that in adjudging Chisco Transport the Transport Company of the Year, NAJA must have taken into consideration the high standards of our services, the over 50 new air-conditioned buses we procured recently, the new branches we inaugurated, our customer reward scheme and other investments we made to enhance passenger transportation and logistics,” Ochuba stated.

According to him, everything is in place to make certain that the teeming Chisco Transport customers all over Nigeria and on the international route enjoy top quality services, adding “We wish them a wonderful Christmas and a highly prosperous 2025.”

Chisco Transport also applauded President Bola Tinubu for the gesture of subsidising inter-state luxury bus transport fares by 50 percent this Christmas season.

Drawing attention to the importance of infrastructure to the road transportation business, the statement further commended the President for the appreciable allocations for the sector in the 2025 budget.

“We, therefore, wish to urge members of his cabinet to put in more deliberate efforts to help the President attain his vision with speedy and prudent execution inspired by patriotism.”

On the current sharp increase in fares across the routes, the award-winning transport company blamed the situation on rising costs of maintaining the buses, as well as on the high pump prices of diesel and petrol.

The Head of Operations, however, added that at the peak of every Christmas season, long distance buses are almost empty during return trips, which leads to a situation whereby the fares for the first journeys are raised to cushion the losses incurred during reverse trips.

Business

Naira exchanges N1,650/$ in parallel market

Published

1 day ago

January 1, 2025

Trends Admin

Naira exchanges N1,650/$ in parallel market

Yesterday, the Naira appreciated N1,650 per dollar in the parallel market, compared to N1,655 on Monday.

Similarly, the Naira appreciated to N1,535 per dollar in the official foreign exchange market.

Business

Exchange rate ends 2024 at N1,535/$1, marking a 40.9% depreciation

Published

2 days ago

December 31, 2024

Trends Admin

Exchange rate ends 2024 at N1,535/$1, marking a 40.9% depreciation

The exchange rate between the naira and the dollar ended the year at N1,535/$1 representing a 40.9% depreciation for 2024.

The official exchange rate between the naira and dollar closed in 2023 at N907.11/$1 thus depreciating by 40.9% for the year which compares to a 49.1% devaluation at the end of 2023.