The Enugu State Electricity Regulatory Commission (EERC) has approved a new electricity tariff for MainPower Electricity Distribution Limited, successor to the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC), reducing the Band A rate from N209 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) to N160/kWh.

The revised tariff will take effect from August 1, 2025.

The development was contained in the Commission’s latest directive, Order No. EERC/2025/003, titled “Tariff Order for MainPower Electricity Distribution Limited 2025,” issued over the weekend.

According to the EERC, the revised tariff is “cost-reflective” and accounts for the federal government’s ongoing subsidy on power generation, ensuring consumers benefit from the government’s financial support.

EERC Chairman, Chijioke Okonkwo, said the tariff cut followed the Commission’s comprehensive review of MainPower’s tariff and licence applications.

He added that the reduction was necessary in light of MainPower’s status as the newly licensed SubCo handling power distribution in Enugu State.

“We reviewed their entire costs, using our Tariff Methodology Regulations 2024, and the supporting Distribution Tariff Model to get an average price of N94.

“The price is low because the Federal Government has been subsidising electricity generation cost, which charges only N45 out of the actual cost of N112. That was how we came about the average tariff of N94 as cost cost-reflective tariff at our level as a subnational electricity market.

“Breaking this across the various tariff bands means that Band A will be paying N160 while other Bands B, C, D, and E are frozen.

“Band A, at N160, will help MainPower to manage the rate shock, and if the subsidy is removed, the savings will assist them in stabilising the tariff over a defined period of time. Nevertheless, at all times, the tariff will be cost-reflective and will not require any state subsidy,” Okonkwo stated.

He noted, however, that the N160 Band A tariff could be difficult to sustain should the Federal Government remove the generation tariff subsidy currently being enjoyed by electricity consumers throughout the country, as tariffs would most likely rise beyond these new rates.

“But until then, it is only right that Ndi Enugu – Band A customers enjoy the reduced tariff effective August 1, 2025,” the Commission’s Chairman added.

Meanwhile, EERC also said it had put in place monitoring and evaluation systems and guidelines to ensure MainPower’s compliance with service commitments so that its customers do not pay more for less power.

“MainPower is obliged to publish daily on its website a rolling seven-day average daily hours of supply on each Bank A feeder no later than 9 am of the next day.

“Where MainPower fails to deliver on the committed level of service on Band A feeder for two consecutive days, MainPower shall report this to the Commission within 24 hours.

“Where MainPower fails to meet the committed service level to a Band A feeder for seven consecutive days, the feeder shall be automatically downgraded to the recorded level of supply.

“The Commission is committed to working with industry developers, investors, customers, and Stakeholders to develop and implement strategies and solutions to provide access and improve electricity services to all the citizens of the state, as this is a win for the establishment,” the Commission concluded.

The tariff review is backed by the Enugu State Electricity Law 2023, signed into law by Governor Peter Mbah in September 2023.

This Act decentralizes the power sector, giving states authority to regulate electricity within their territories.

Over 16 states began passing their own electricity laws and setting up state regulatory commissions.