August 28, 2025
Electricity consumers, have expressed deep concern over incessant increases in electricity tariffs without commensurate power supply.
They are therefore calling on the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, to as part of its statutory mandate, enforce service reliability.
Their concerns were captured in a survey conducted by the Nigerian Institute of Social and Economic Research, NISER on Wednesday at a seminar in Ibadan, with the theme: “Balancing Electricity Tariffs and Consumers’ Wallets: Insights from Nigerian Households and Firms’ Ability to Pay.”
A report, survey showed that households currently receive an average of 10 hours of electricity daily, which is far below the 20-hour benchmark promised by service providers, whereas monthly grid electricity expenditure has surged by 98 per cent from N17,647.49 to N34,942.04.
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The report stated that: “Households and firms can barely cope with the major shift that occurred when the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission introduced a supplementary tariff review for Band A consumers.”
While presenting the findings, Dr Iyabo Olanrele disclosed that firms now spend an average of 82 per cent of their monthly turnover on production costs, largely due to electricity tariffs.
“Although 87.5 per cent of respondents reported moderate improvement in supply, it still falls short of the 20-hour daily requirement,” she said.
Olanrele further explained that grid electricity expenditure rose by 92.2 per cent due to the tariff hike, with 67.5 per cent of firms describing the increase as unaffordable. She noted that large-scale, high-input-cost firms were most vulnerable, while older firms demonstrated more resilience.
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The study also examined coping mechanisms adopted by households and businesses.
According to Olanrele, households are increasingly turning to solar panels, inverters, and energy-efficient appliances, though these remain unaffordable for many.
“Firms, on their part, are adopting renewable energy sources, energy-saving measures, and efficient technologies, while some remain undecided on long-term alternatives,” she said.
Following robust deliberations by energy experts and economists, the seminar tasked the NERC to enforce its service reliability mandate by establishing minimum thresholds for distribution companies (DisCos) to always improve their infrastructure before implementing any future tariff hikes.
