Customers who were surprised by the increase called it "shocking" and said it was worrying that the Federal Government let discos raise their electricity prices even though there was a severe fuel shortage in the country.
A power user in Enugu confirmed that the prices had gone up by saying that the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC) had raised their prices again without telling anyone.
"I put N5,000 on my phone yesterday, but I only got 75.2 units instead of the usual 85.51," he said.
Most Nigerians don't know about the latest increase, but Business Hallmark heard that the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) changed the prices that discos will have to pay starting on December 1, 2022.
This was not, however, announced or posted on the regulator's website, as it used to be.
The Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC) said that the recent small change in electricity rates of about 13% reflected the country's current economic situation and was needed to keep the electricity industry alive.
On Sunday, Mr Emeka Ezeh, the Head of Corporate Communications at EEDC, said this in Enugu. He said that the tariff rate for non-MD customers in the R2SB class went up from N58.47 to N66.47 per kilowatt.
Ezeh said this as some customers in the South-East, where the company has a network franchise, were complaining about a sudden increase in the price per kilowatt that affected all types of customers.
He said that the small change, which went into effect on December 1, 2022, had been approved by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) for all electricity distribution companies in the country a few months earlier.
He said that there is a small change in percentage in all electricity distribution companies across the country right now, not just EEDC.
"NERC approved a small increase in the rate of tariff so that Electricity Distribution Companies (DisCOs) can keep up with the current economic realities in the power/electricity sector."
"The high inflation rate in the country is having a big effect on the sector right now, as it affects our daily operations and the services we provide to our valued customers in our network.”
"The high foreign exchange rate also hurts our business because most of the spare parts we need for daily maintenance and repairs in the network have to be brought in from abroad."
"The high foreign exchange rate also affects EEDC's investments in equipment to further expand and strengthen the network, which is why customers in the South-East are getting better services."
The EEDC spokesperson asked its valued customers to be patient and added that we think NERC will lower the tariff if the mentioned indices and other factors "turn positive tomorrow."
"The new change is for us to stay in business, serve our customers better, and keep our promises to other people in the sector or industry," he said.
But people who use the EEDC network in Enugu have kept saying that the price hike is making an already tough economic situation even worse.
They thought that before now, the high inflation rate of about 22%, according to the National Bureau of Statistics, was making it hard to feed their families every day.
Mr. Obinna Nwafor, who lives in Achara Layout in Enugu, said that it is terrible that the people there can't get any economic relief because "there are so many struggles to survive in the country."
"I wish this increase hadn't happened now so that we could have a sector that is fairly stable and not affected by the national trend toward inflation."
Also, Mr. Jude Onyia, who lives in the Uwani axis of Enugu metropolis, asked EEDC to think about the people in the lower categories of their tariff line and not raise their prices.
"It's clear that those of us in the low category of the tariff can't keep up, and other alternatives to electricity are also quite expensive," Onyia said.
