Band A: Nigerian university cut off from grid over accrued bills

The Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, said it has been disconnected from the national electricity grid following its inability to pay its electricity bills accruing from the increased tariffs.

The university has experienced blackouts for about 24 hours since Thursday, 28 November, when the Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company disconnected it.

ABU told staff and students in a memo on Friday that it is making “frantic” efforts to pay the bills.

“The University has been facing difficulty in footing the monthly electricity bills following increment in electricity tariffs early this year,” the memo reads.

The university said it has paid over N1 billion as electricity bill to the company since January, excluding the amounts expended on diesel to power generators. “This is even at the expense of the critical statutory functions of the University.”

Electricity crisis

Like ABU, several Nigerian universities and university teaching hospitals have struggled with increased electricity tariff amidst funding challenges.

Their woes were worsened by the hike in electricity tariff by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) in April.

The new tariff regime classified consumers into Band A, B,C and D. For Band A users, the NERC raised electricity prices per kilowatt-hour from N68 to N225, in return for guaranteeing 20 hours of electricity supply per day.

Many electricity distribution companies have moved institutions in their domain to Band A, ignoring their protests against the move. This ultimately increased their tariffs, leaving them struggling to pay.

PREMIUM TIMES reported how the College of Medicine of the University of Lagos (CMUL), Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), University of Lagos (UNILAG), University of Ibadan (UI), University of Benin, amongst other institutions have struggled to pay electricity bills.

The Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC) disconnected UNILAG from the power grid in August after it failed to pay the N472 million bills it owed. UNILAG said its electricity bill, which averaged between N150 million and N180 million monthly, has increased to almost N300 million monthly since the EKDC migrated it from Band B to Band A in June.

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Babcock University, a private institution in Ilishan-Remo, Ogun State, also protested its migration to Band A by the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) after bills increased to N300 million a month.

Solar Mini grids to the rescue?

The government has promised to subsidise electricity for selected institutions. However, that is yet to materialise.

Also, the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, recently announced plans by the government to construct solar mini grids on the campuses of tertiary institutions and teaching hospitals to reduce electricity costs.

While inspecting an ‘Advanced Solar Microgrid’ project at the University of Abuja, Mr Adelabu said the initiative is part of the government’s vision to make “education the foundation of economic growth and industrial development by providing alternative energy sources to critical institutions.”