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Enugu electricity tariff set at N160.4 as NERC questions the subsidy assumption

9th September, 2026

The Enugu State Electricity Regulatory Commission ordered Band A tariffs cut to N160.4 per kilowatt hour for Mainpower Electricity Distribution, reached by assuming a generation tariff of N45.75 against the current N112.60. NERC has said publicly that the assumption carries a subsidy component of N66.85 per kilowatt hour.

Enugu became the first Nigerian state to set its own electricity tariff, and the number it chose has put the federal regulator on the record.

Order EERC/2025/003, issued by the Enugu State Electricity Regulatory Commission to its licensee Mainpower Electricity Distribution Limited, cut Band A customers to N160.4 per kilowatt hour and froze tariffs for the other bands. Mainpower draws its supply entirely from the national grid.

How the figure was reached is what the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission has questioned. Reaching N160.4 meant treating the generation tariff as N45.75 per kilowatt hour rather than the current average of N112.60, a difference of N66.85 that assumes a subsidy component.

NERC has said stakeholders across the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry raised concerns about what that does to wholesale generation and transmission costs, and to the financing costs attached to legacy obligations.

The Electricity Act 2023 gives Enugu the power to do exactly this. EERC holds exclusive responsibility for determining end-user tariff methodology within its area, while NERC continues to approve the generation and transmission contracts feeding into the state. Tariff policy support for end users sits with the Enugu State Government.

Sixteen states now hold those powers, on NERC chairman Musiliu Oseni’s confirmation in July. Enugu, Ekiti and Ondo went first in October 2024, followed by Imo, Oyo, Edo, Kogi, Lagos, Ogun, Niger, Plateau and Abia, then Anambra, Nasarawa and Bayelsa this year.

The federal subsidy position behind all of it remains unsettled. The Federal Government carried N358.32 billion of generation costs in the first quarter of 2026, just under 52% of what generation companies invoiced, with end-user tariffs held at July 2024 rates. Power Minister Joseph Tegbe has said payments will be phased out from next year without publishing a date.

A state that sets a lower tariff on the assumption of federal support, in a market where that support is being withdrawn on an unannounced timetable, is the first practical test of how far devolved regulation reaches.

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ENN Editorial Team

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