...NERC consults customers for approval today

(ATC&C) losses, Abuja Disco said its present ATC&C at 49.22 per cent will be reduced to 33.79 per cent in 2016 and will go down to 18.05 per cent by 2024, the tenth year. Kano Disco now has 45.0 per cent ATC&C losses but is expected to reduce them to 38.33 per cent in 2016 and to as low as 14.67 per cent by 2024.

Eko Disco has 28.32 per cent losses, which are expected to go down to 20.66 per cent in 2016 and to as low as 10.32 per cent in 2024, while Ikeja Disco has 32.15 per cent but projects 23.89 per cent by 2016 and 9.182 per cent after 10 years.

On their customer base, Abuja has 613,853 customers with over 90 percent as residential customers, while Kano has 317,973 customers with about 300,000 as residential customers. This is expected to grow to 348,404 in 2016. While Eko Disco has 394,579 customers with 1,596 of them as government accounts, Ikeja Disco has 667,931 customers with 296 of them as government accounts.

Customers for electricity services are classified majorly into Residential, Commercial, Industrial and Special consumers. The Residential class use their premises exclusively as a residence house or flat. They include the R1, consuming less than 50 kilowatts hour (kwh), especially in the rural areas, or those whose energy consumption is so low and cannot afford to pay much for it. Residential 2 (R2) are those using single and three-phase connections like a two- bedroom flat. The R3 use low voltage (LV) maximum demand, with mansion owners falling into this class, while R4 users are on a high voltage of 11/33kilovolts (kv) power.

The Commercial class use their premises for business purposes. While Commercial 1 (C1) is for single and threephase users like hair saloons, C2 is for higher capacity business operators like cold room operators. The C3 for high voltage users include water factory and other small scale factories.

The Industrial class use their premises for manufacturing. Industrial 1 (D1) are for single and three-phase like welders. Medium-scale industries and plants fall under D2, while large-scale manufacturers using high voltage fall under D3.

The Special class consists of agricultural and agro-allied industries, religious houses and public utilities. They have A1 for single and threephase users, A2 for low voltage users and A3 for high voltage demand.

Then there is a separate class for street lighting.

On capital expenditure (CAPEX), Abuja Disco said it had spent N2.3 billion in 2014 and is forecasting a N73.3bn spending by 2024, while Kano proposes N4.769bn yearly during the 10-year plan period, which is over N47billion.

Eko, however, in its plan said, “We have estimated that we will need a total of $1.1bn in CAPEX, in addition to the N5bn that has been spent in acquiring the EKEDC head office. We expect to spend N18.05bn annually and this is in excess of N141.9bn more than what was approved for EKEDC in MYTO 2.2.”

The Ikeja Disco will be spending N60bn in the first five years, but the entire plan assumes a total of N92.8bn, which tallies with the MYTO assumption of N92.2bn CAPEX by 2024.

Energy and Fixed Charges for the Discos Abuja tariff

Energy Cost (EC) is expected to rise to N22.49/kilowatt hour (kwhr) for residential 2 (R2) customers by 2016, from N14.70kwhr in 2015 (about N7.79 difference). This will reduce to N21.38/kwhr in 2017. C1 will pay N34.57/kwhr in 2016 from N23.61/kwhr in 2015, a difference of N10.96. There will be a downward trend for these with a difference of over N2 from 2017.

The Fixed Charge (FC) now at N702 will go down to N667 from January 2016 for R2 customers. This will continue to reduce till 2024 where it will stop at N442.50 monthly. The Commercial class will pay monthly from N667 instead of N702 in 2015 with the trend decreasing. Kano tariff The Disco now has a new customer classification with R2 customers classified as R2-lite (those recently moved from R1 to R2); R2-Classic (those with loads from 10kw to 20kw) and R2-Premium (exceeding 20kw load). R3 are those with three-phase meters while R4 and R5 are those with three-phase meters on high voltage demand.

Energy Cost (EC) is expected to rise to N13.49/ kwh for R2-Lite customers from November 2015 through 2016, a deviation from the N13.25kwh obtainable now. R2-Classic gets a rise of N21.21, while R2-Premium pays N30.10 This will increase in 2017, but will begin to reduce in 2018. The Commercial class will pay from N29.40, with an increase to N29.93 and a decrease trend from 2018.

Fixed Charge (FC), now at N750, will reduce to N333 from November 2015 through 2016 to 2024 for R2-Lite customers. R2-Classic and Premium will also pay a static N667 monthly. Commercial class will pay from N667 monthly instead of N702 early 2015 with a static trend. Eko tariff Eko’s Energy Cost (EC) will also rise to N19.48/kwh for R2 customers by 2016, from N18.75kwh in 2015 (about N0.73 difference). This will reduce to N16.46/ kwh in 2017, but will rise from N15.12 by 2022 till 2024. The Commercial class will pay from N20.90/kwh in 2016 with a downward trend from 2017. This is about N1.90/kwh difference in what obtains now.

Although Eko Disco has not removed the fixed charge, it is the only Disco that has adjusted it from the N750/ N702 monthly payment to the per kilowatt hour billing method. This means its customers can only pay the fixed charge only when they consume power.

Its fixed charge now at N750 has been converted in its proposed plan to N1.03/kwh in 2016. This will dip positively to N0.87/kwh by 2017. The Commercial class will pay from N1.10/kwh included in their energy charge. Ikeja tariff The Ikeja Disco now has a new customer classification with R2 customers classified as R2-S (users of singlephase meters) and R2-T (users of three-phase meters). The same applies to the Commercial (C1) class.

Its Energy Cost (EC) will rise to N19.61/kwhr for R2-S customers by 2016, and N22.20/kwh for R2-T from N18.75kwh in 2015 (about N3.5 increase). This will reduce to N18.19/kwh and N20.59/kwh in 2017. The C1-S class will pay N23.61/ kwh while C1-T pays N27.80/ kwh in 2016 with a downward trend from 2017.

The Ikeja Disco said it has cut its fixed charge of N750 to N375 and N450 for R2-S and R2-T respectively in 2016. However, it will rise to N405 and N486 by 2017 and beyond. Its Commercial class customers will pay N375 monthly as it increases yearly. But by 2024, none of these categories will have their payment exceed the current N750.

When contacted for comments, NERC Chairman, Dr. Sam Amadi said the Discos are all submitting their 10-year tariff plan for consideration before its approval and implementation. The Commission is holding a second public consultation today in Abuja to review what the 11 Discos have submitted.