It’s no longer news that the cost of Electrical Power in Nigeria is gradually being increased after on review or the order; they say it is to ensure improvement in the power supply situation and keep the industry sustainable, I’ll keep my opinion on that to myself. The last upward review came into effect for me on the 1st of November 2020; this was when I decided to start tracking how much I really spend on power; my aim was to try and keep it to the minimum. I have been tracking my power usage for almost a year now and some things just do not sit down right with me.
My place of residence falls under the jurisdiction of Ikeja Electric (IKEDC) but I think the summary should apply no matter the Disco that supplies you power. I usually buy power from online vendors as most people do; I pay, they send me a token to enter into the meter to load my units, it’s that simple. For clarity’s sake, I have used BuyPowerNg, Jumia Pay, and Quickteller to vend power in the last 12 months; I have no relationship with any of the vendors listed.
According to the Official Statement from IKEDC, I am expected to pay 51.22 Naira for a KwH of electrical power I use. You can see the complete price list in the image below. According to the table, I am supposed to get an average of 20 hours of daily Power supply over the month; I fall into the first class listed (A-Non-MD). It was a surprise when I noticed an unexpected rise in the cost per unit of power I purchased. I became suspicious when some of the vendors stopped displaying how many units I bought, I decided to see if they are hiding something.
I started recording the exact units I purchased even if they do not display it, my meter’s User Interface Unit (UIU; this is the small device you use to load prepaid meters) displays this briefly after loading the units. I found out that the cost per unit is way higher than I thought, I was paying between 57.87 and 59.70 Naira per unit depending on the vendor used and the amount paid, remember that I should be paying about 51 Naira. I actually paid the official price up till around April/May before the vending cost increase for no apparent reason. See the table below.
These are my own estimations and I will encourage you to do the same the next time you are billed and let’s see what your actual power costs will be; who knows, my maths can be very terrible at times. I can also tell you that there is practically no difference in buying from any particular vendor even if they attract you with a zero fee offer. Let me see what you think and find out in the comments section below.
