Power Company To Implement New Tariff From Tomorrow
Today is the last day of June, and we are already six months past 2023. It still feels like yesterday we just entered the new year, but time flies as they say. Today got me thinking about the increase in electricity tariff which will take effect by tomorrow on all prepaid meters in my country.
The reason why this sudden increase in electricity tariff was due to the influence of the fluctuating exchange rate. The federal government and the CBN agreed to sell and buy foreign currency at the rate of the parallel market. If the parallel market sells $1 at the of N800 naira the federal government will also sell at that rate so basically they have left the parallel market to decide on the sales of foreign currency.
The electricity company has started early that the electricity unit is set to increase by 30-40 per cent and has advised customers with prepaid meters to purchase a lot of units that will save them money before the tariffs increase by tomorrow. The company also informed customers who are not using prepaid meters that there will be an increase in their utility bills starting in August.
The electricity company has started how they will charge customers on postpaid under different bands. For customers who are on Band C will be charged N100 naira per kWh for 12-16 hours of power supply, while Band A with 20 hours and above & Band B 16 to 20 hours will be charged much more than Band C.
My house happens to fall under Band C and some days we get up to 20 hours of power while some days less than 16. I did my rough calculation and concluded my house could pay N30,000 to N48,000 naira per month and getting a prepaid meter costs N61,000 naira. If I get a prepaid meter I won't spend up to 30-48k per month on the electricity bill.
A prepaid meter gives consumers the power to control their day-to-day consumption of power, unlike the postpaid it's just an estimated amount the electricity company calculate and distribution to different houses which are not on a prepaid meter. With prepaid meters, customers can pay at any time they like and even if they refuse to pay the power company won't disconnect their house. While for postpaid the customers will have to wait for the electricity company to send their bill, and if they refuse to pay the power company will disconnect their house from the grid.
The tariffs are not going down anytime soon, and it is best if everyone gets a prepaid meter and manages the level of electricity consumption in their household. I am already looking at it and if things go as planned my house will get a meter before the beginning of August. So guys that will be all for now. Thanks for stopping by and have a good day.