Residents in parts of Enugu State have been experiencing electricity blackouts for the past four days, a situation Mainpower Electricity Distribution Limited (MEDL) has attributed to the ongoing electricity tariff reduction controversy.

In a notice released on Monday, Mainpower explained that the outage stems from a significant drop in energy allocation from its parent company, Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC), following the Enugu Electricity Regulatory Commission's (EERC) recent tariff order.

The EERC had mandated a reduction in electricity tariffs for Band A customers from N209.50 per kilowatt-hour to N160.40 per kilowatt-hour, a move that has created tension between regulatory bodies and electricity providers.

According to Mainpower, EEDC conducted an analysis of the new tariff order and concluded that implementing it would result in monthly losses exceeding N1 billion, making it financially unsustainable for the company to meet its market obligations.

"Consequently, and to mitigate these losses, EEDC made the difficult decision to reduce the volume of energy supplied to MEDL," the company stated. "This has unfortunately resulted in MEDL receiving only about 50 percent of its usual energy allocation, significantly affecting our ability to serve some of our esteemed customers."

Mainpower further clarified that it does not receive electricity directly from the National Grid but relies solely on EEDC, which holds the vesting contract agreement with the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading (NBET), the organization responsible for electricity bulk trading.

The situation has created a regulatory impasse, with Generation Companies (GenCos) and Distribution Companies (DisCos) rejecting EERC's tariff reduction announcements. The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) and the federal government have also opposed EERC's tariff reduction directive in Enugu.

This development raises concerns about the autonomy of state electricity regulatory commissions and highlights the complex challenges in Nigeria's power sector reforms, particularly regarding tariff structures and regulatory oversight.

As the standoff continues, residents and businesses in affected areas of Enugu State face uncertainty regarding when normal power supply will resume.

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