Nigerian university cut off from grid over accrued bills

Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria said it has been disconnected from the national electricity grid due to inability to pay electricity bills arising from the increased tariffs.

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

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

“The university is facing difficulty in paying monthly electricity bills following the increase in electricity rates earlier this year,” the memorandum reads.

The university said it has paid the company over N1 billion in electricity bills since January, which does not include the amount spent on diesel and power generators. “It is also at the expense of the important statutory functions of the university.”

power crisis

Like ABU, many Nigerian universities and university teaching hospitals are struggling with increased electricity tariffs amid funding challenges.

Their troubles were made worse by the increase in electricity tariffs by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) in April.

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

Many power distribution companies have shifted institutions in their domain to Band A, Ignoring their protests Against this move. This ultimately led to an increase in their tariffs, leaving them struggling to pay.

Premium Times reports how the Colleges of Medicine of the University of Lagos (CMUL), Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), University of Lagos (UNILAG), University of Ibadan (UI), University of Benin and other institutions struggled to pay Is. Electricity bills.

Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC) UNILAG disconnected after failing to pay N472 million bill owed to Power Grid in August. UNILAG said its electricity bill, which was averaging between N150 million and N180 million monthly, has increased to about N300 million monthly since EKDC moved it from Band B to Band A in June.

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

Solar mini grid to the rescue?

The government has promised to provide subsidy on electricity for selected institutions. However, this has not yet been realized.

Also, the Minister of Energy, Adebayo Adelabu, recently announced The government is planning to build solar mini grids on the campuses of tertiary institutions and teaching hospitals to reduce electricity costs.

While inspecting the ‘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”.