The Enugu State Electricity Regulatory Commission (EERC) has reaffirmed its authority to slash electricity tariffs within the state, maintaining that only states are constitutionally empowered to legislate on the distribution of electricity.
This follows a Public Notice from the National Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), which questioned EERC’s recent decision to reduce the tariff for Band A customers in Enugu from N209/kWh to N160/kWh, effective August 1, 2025.
In a detailed rejoinder published on its website Monday, EERC stated that NERC’s objections stemmed from “misconceptions and misplaced focus,” largely due to an apparent lack of understanding of the structural reforms ushered in by the 2023 constitutional amendment, the Electricity Act 2023, and the rise of sub-national electricity markets.
EERC questioned NERC’s perceived bid to monopolize tariff-setting authority in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI).
“The question is whether in a fully decentralised Electricity Supply Industry, multiple tariff regimes are not reasonably possible?” the commission queried.
“Furthermore, where a state like Enugu State has assumed full regulatory oversight over its intrastate market, is it precluded from issuing a Tariff Order for that market?”
While acknowledging that NERC referenced constitutional provisions on legislative powers, EERC said the federal body deliberately ignored the fact that the National Assembly lacks power over electricity distribution.
“On this constitutional matter, it should be noted that under Paragraph 14(b) of Part II of the Second Schedule to the Constitution, only States have the constitutional right to make laws with respect to the distribution of electricity.
“By virtue of Paragraph 13 of the Part II of the Second Schedule to the Constitution, the National Assembly is restricted to making laws with respect to ‘the generation and transmission of electricity in or to any part of the Federation and from one State to another State’. Electricity distribution was deliberately excluded,” the agency emphasized.
EERC further criticized NERC’s insistence that states must “holistically incorporate the wholesale costs of grid supply to their States without any qualification or deviation in their design of tariffs for end-use customers,” describing it as an overreach.
“The jurisdiction over the national grid and generating plants licensed by NERC is distinct and separate from benefits under the electricity subsidy programme of the Federal Government.
“The question whether states that have established their electricity markets should benefit from the electricity subsidy programme is an issue of constitutional importance.
“In a federation such as Nigeria, it does not lie with NERC to make this determination as it summarily declared in the Notice. The subsidy programme is funded from the Federation Account established under section 162 of the Constitution. This account belongs to the three tiers of government in Nigeria and benefit therefrom is determined by the Constitution.
“To suggest that a state could be denied a benefit from the Federation Account, such as the electricity subsidy programme, because that state has exercised its constitutional right to establish a sub-national electricity market will be subversive of the Constitution.”
EERC accused NERC of trying to preserve its exclusive control over end-user tariffs in the national market:
“The unstated aim of the Notice seems to be all about preserving for NERC the exclusive right to determine end-use tariffs in the NESI, and for the states to simply adopt and apply them, notwithstanding the provision of their State laws.
“Under this arrangement, States that accept this usurpation will continue to enjoy the national subsidy on the generation tariff. And the States that do not will be denied the benefit, and told that they could go and generate their own electricity, even though the SubCos are entitled to a share of the Successor DisCos’ minimum offtake obligation from the grid.”
Responding to NERC’s claim that EERC’s Tariff Order relied on a significant subsidy assumption, the state commission offered a firm rebuttal.
“EERC states unequivocally that the reduction in the tariff for Band A customers under the Tariff Order was not based on any populist sentiment, or reckless bluster. Rather, it is a result of a rigorous and transparent process of tariff determination during which costs and other relevant data from MainPower Electricity Distribution Company Limited were carefully reviewed and analysed based on the provisions of the Enugu State Electricity Law 2023, and EERC’s Tariff Methodology Regulations 2024,” the statement concluded.
