The Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, don talk say private companies wey dey generate power now need up to N750 to produce one kilowatt-hour of electricity because of the high cost of petrol.
Adelabu say for those wey dey use diesel-powered engines, power generation go cost N950 per kilowatt-hour. He argue say dis prices be more expensive than the N209/kWh wey Band A customers dey pay.
Speaking at a recent function in Lagos, the minister emphasize say though customers dey complain about the Band A tariff, dem know say it still cheaper compared to generating their own power with petrol or diesel.
Adelabu hint say the increase in revenue of the power distribution companies no be additional burden on the customers as some media outlets dey report. Instead, he say it be just a reallocation of resources from what dem used to spend on petrol and diesel.
“I need to correct an impression. There’s a section of the media that says this revenue is an additional burden on the consumers. No, it is not. It is just a mere reallocation of resources from what they used to spend on petrol and diesel. Now they are paying to enjoy a good power supply,” he stated.
The minister recall say in 2023, a revenue of N1tn was made in the power sector while N16.5tn was spent in procuring petrol and diesel to run power generators.
“But today that we have a more stable supply than we used to have, a lot of people do not spend on fuel again, not on diesel, not on petrol. Now, we are charging N209 as a full cost-reflective tariff for Band A, but for you to generate a kilowatt hour of power using a petrol generator to pay, at this rate of N1,000 per litre, it is going to be about N750 for a kilowatt-hour; and for diesel, it remains about N915,” Adelabu noted.
He call on electricity consumers to support the Discos to sustain the present reforms in the sector to prevent going back to fuel generators.
