Mainpower Electricity Distribution Company has filed a petition before the Enugu State Electricity Regulatory Commission (EERC) over the EERC’s new tariff reduction order.
MainPower is the electricity company in Enugu State which succeeded Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC).
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The new tariff order
The EERC had issued a new tariff to MainPower Electricity Distribution Ltd, compelling the electricity company to slash the electricity tariff in the South-eastern state.
The reviewed electricity cost for Band A was brought down from N209/ kWh (per kiloWatt) to N160/kWh, which was billed to take effect from 1 August 2025.
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Both experts and institutions, including the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, have since faulted the EERC tariff order.
Petition against new tariff order
The Mainpower’s petition was dated 14 August 2025 and signed by the Managing Director and the CEO of the electricity company, Ernest Mupwaya.
In the petition, supported with a four-paragraph affidavit, Mainpower appealed for “a review of order No. EERC/2025/003: Tariff Order for Mainpower Electricity Distribution Limited 2025 to avoid loss of revenue due to downward review of tariff.”
The electricity company said in the petition that the tariff order, published by the EERC on 18 July for them, was not agreed by the parties and that the same did not comply with the Regulation No. EERC/R004: Enugu State Regulatory Commission: Methodology for Tariff Regulation, 2024 (Methodology for Tariff).
Mainpower stressed that the methodology for tariff insists that EERC should subject such review to a formal hearing if the commission does not reach an agreement on cost with the electricity company within 21 days
The electricity company said EERC, through a letter dated 30 June 2025, invited it for a three-day meeting to agree on the various parameters for the tariff, which was billed to be held from 2 to 4 July 2025.
However, Mainpower insists it never came to an agreement with the EERC on certain key parameters with “huge sensitivity effect.”
The electricity company revealed that during and after the meetings, the understanding with the EERC was that the process as enunciated in the Methodology of Tariff would be followed and that both parties would reach an agreement on the said parameters mentioned above or hold a formal hearing as provided in Schedule 1 of the Methodology of Tariff.
“The petitioner (Mainpower) was surprised that the respondent (EERC) without agreement on these important and tariff-sensitive parameters proceeded to conclude the tariffs and publish the Tariff Order on Friday, 18th July, 2025.
“The petitioner states that despite the incident mentioned in paragraph 9 above, it further engaged the respondent and parties agreed to have a meeting on 25th July, 2025 to address the concerns of the Petitioner especially as this will threaten the Vesting Contract arrangement between the petitioner’s Holding Company, Enugu Electricity Distribution Plc (EEDC) and Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc. (NBET) from where Petitioner receives its supply of electricity,” the petition read in part.
Mainpower said after their presentation during the meetings, the EERC, in another letter dated 30 July 2025, maintained that they would go ahead with the implementation of the Tariff Order on 1 August 2025.
‘Reverse the new tariff order’
Mainpower, in the petition, urged the EERC to reverse the new tariff order, explaining that if implemented, it would irreversibly affect the company’s business.
Giving an instance of the impacts, the electricity company said the tariff creates an average monthly revenue shortfall of between N1.3 billion and N1.5 billion, resulting in a cumulative gap of about N6.98 billion over five months.
READ ALSO: NERC faults Enugu electrcity commission for reducing, fixing tariff
It also said the new tariff would make compliance with NBET and Market Operator (MO) settlement obligations to drop significantly, from current levels of about 97% to an estimated 81% by the end of 2025.
“The outcome is a business sustainability risk,” it stated.
Other impacts of the new tariff include possible disconnection of supply to MainPower, investment risk, operational impact and strategic & reputational impact, the company stated.
Mainpower, therefore, prayed the EERC to order the suspension of the application of the Tariff Order pending the determination of its case.
The electricity company also asked for an order of the commission for a review to approve either Scenario 1 of N206.80/Kwh or Scenario 2 of N194.54/Kwh as contained in its petition.
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