Group seeks disbandment of proposed transmission charge
The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC’s) plan to allow the electricity distribution and trading licensees to introduce competition transition charge by has elicited public criticisms.
The Competition Transition Charge (CTC) is a new rule to make prospective Eligible Customers (EC) and other consumer class, compensate the 11 electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos) for leaving their networks to buy power directly from Generation Companies (GenCos).
NERC had in pursuant to the provisions of Section 28 of the Electric Power Sector Reform Act (EPSRA) in May 2019, published on its website www.nerc.gov.ng a Consultation Paper on a framework for the collection of Competition Transition Charge (CTC) from Eligible Customers (ECs).
“The CTC shall enable Distribution Licensees (DisCos) to recover permitted revenue and return on invested assets arising from the exit of ECs from their network,” NERC had stated.
But Transparency Awareness Group (TANGO), Wednesday, insisted that the decision was taken hastily without due consultation with relevant stakeholders in the society, stressing that the process lacked proper legislative backing with the sole aim of aiding and abetting illegality in the system.
Indeed, National Coordinator of TANGO, Ibrahim Isah, argued that the plan is not transparent and could increase the plight of electricity consumers in Nigeria.
He said: “Following the release of Regulation No NERC-R-111 issued by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, on the 1st November, 2017, for the Nigerian Electricity Service Industry, NESI, the Eligibility Customer Status came into existence to facilitate the off-take of the stranded 2,000 megawatts of electricity that the Distribution Companies, Discos, were not able to distribute and give Life to the Generating companies, GENCos as a source of other income without depending on the DISCOs.
“A few of our members went through harrowing obstacles such as providing, amongst other things, the needed infrastructure like the 132/33kVa Transmission Dedicated Lines to their plants, the intake and the outlet substations to access power under the scheme without any contribution(s) from DISCOs.
“This gave a new lease of life to their production and has simultaneously evacuated part of the 2,000 stranded power with bulk-income accruing to the Gencos and the TCN,” TANGO stated.
With huge losses from stranded electricity and government bailout in the sector as well as epileptic power challenge being faced by industrial sector, Isah stressed that CTC would only favour DisCos, especially the chief proponent and supporter of the dispatch of stranded electricity.
According to him, the removal of the former Managing Director of TCN, Usman Gur Mohammed also created an opportunity for the cartel of Discos to hike the rate of electricity to a level that being an Eligible Customer would become unattractive and meaningless.
“They managed to convince the Federal Ministry of Finance, CBN and NERC to allow the introduction of what they call Competition Transmission Charge CTC. The CTC is to be paid to DisCos without Justification for the Service rendered.
“The CTC is to be paid in addition to the Transmission charges being paid to TCN who is a Custodian of the 132/33kVa dedicated Transmission Lines. As usual, they excluded the major stakeholders; neither do they seek their input or opinion on the matter without representing their interests,” he said.
The group therefore asked President Muhammadu Buhari, and the Senate President, Dr. Ahmad Lawan, to urgently recall the guidelines and adopt a transparent legislative process that will afford all relevant stakeholders the right to make input and contributions to the process in the collective interest of the nation.
This, it said, is to salvage the lives of hundreds of thousands of Nigerian investors.
In paragraphs 4.1(i), 4.2(g) 4.3(f) 4.4(f) and 4.5(d) of the NERC’s guidelines, the agency failed to demonstrate transparency and genuine nationalistic approach in its operations by creating avenues aimed at affording DISCOs the right to charge seamlessly at Eligible Customers, the group noted.
Source: The Guardian
- Published in Uncategorized
DisCos explain continuous poor power supply
Despite efforts to expand electricity transmission lines, and improve supply to end-users, power distribution companies (DisCos) have said the plans may fail if the sector is not properly aligned.
The DisCos claimed the sector needs effective coordination and the alignment of all segments being executed by the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), and the Generation Companies (GenCos).
Recall that the Minister of Power, Sale Mamman, had earlier noted that lack of synergy in the sector was affecting results in the industry, stressing that if properly aligned the sector should achieve 7,000MW national grid distribution capacity through the first phase of the Siemens deal.
Similarly, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Power, Senator Gabriel Suswam, reiterated the call for the coordination of the TCN, GenCos and the DisCos, who are the value chains of the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI).
Executive Director, Research and Advocacy, Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors (ANED), Sunday Oduntan, said such a move would help the country attain electricity supply goals.
Oduntan said currently, the lack of coordination in the power sector has hampered efforts of the sector towards improving power supply to Nigerians.
Coming on the backdrop of the just-concluded Public Hearing by the Senate Committee on Power, the DisCos noted cases where they are not carried along in the transmission expansion project of TCN even when they are the ones relating directly with electricity consumers, and know where they require power supply the most.
“TCN is building a series of transmission facilities, but they are not in good proximity to the load distribution centres of the DisCos. The farther the transmission facility is to the load distribution centre, the higher the losses, the more the bill for the consumer.
“This is a concern for us and we want the federal Government to intervene and ensure that there is coordination of the expansion project. This will be of more impact to the Nigerian electricity consumer,” Oduntan said.
Source: The Guardian
- Published in Electricity
UN puts Nigeria’s electricity access rate at 57%
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fewer than 110.7 million Nigerians out of a 195.8 million estimated population had access to electricity as of 2018, according to the latest global energy progress report.
This represents a 57 per cent national electricity access rate compared with the global average of 90 per cent, says the report launched at the United Nations on Thursday.
It indicates an increase in the number of Nigerians with access to electricity by 34.6 million people from 76.1 million in 2010.
On the global scene, the report says the world has made “promising progress’’ towards ensuring universal access to sustainable energy over the last decade.
According to the document, the number of people without access to electricity dropped from 1.2 billion globally in 2010 to 789 million in 2018.
This, however, is not the case in Nigeria, where the figure rather increased from 82.4 million people without electricity access in 2010 to 85.2 million in 2018.
The reports states that renewable energy solutions played a big role in the global progress, with more than 136 million people receiving basic electricity services from off-grid sources by 2018.
According to the document, the world saw an improvement in renewable energy consumption from 16.3 per cent in 2010 to 17.3 per cent in 2018.
In Nigeria, the report shows that renewables accounted for 83 per cent of the total energy consumed by the citizens in 2017.
But there was a decline in the renewables to total energy ratio in the country from 86.9 per cent in 2010 to the 83 per cent recorded in 2017.
“Still, unless efforts are stepped up significantly, an estimated 620 million people globally would remain without access to electricity in 2030.
“This number could become even higher with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic,’’ the report warns.
Titled “Tracking SDG 7: The Energy Progress Report’’, the document is published annually by custodian agencies of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 7, which targets energy access for all.
It provides the most comprehensive look available at the world’s progress towards global energy targets on access to electricity, clean cooking, renewable energy and energy efficiency.
The report also serves to guide international cooperation and policy making to achieve universal and sustainable energy access by 2030.
It is produced by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) in collaboration with the International Energy Agency (IEA), World Bank, Word Health Organisation (WHO) and other relevant agencies.
The report also captures a huge increase in the number of Nigerians with access to clean cooking fuels and technologies between 2010 and 2018.
As of 2018, 20.5 million people or 10 per cent of the population had access to clean cooking energy, up from just 2.7 million people in 2010.
But many Nigerians remained behind on this score with 175.4 million citizens lacking access to clean cooking energy sources in 2018 as against 155.8 million people in 2010.
This also means that the country missed out on the global decline in the number of people without access to clean cooking energy sources from three billion in 2010 to 2.8 billion in 2018.
However, the report reflects an improvement in the country’s energy efficiency by 6.4 per cent between 2015 and 2017, higher than the global average of 5 per cent.
On financing, the document indicates that Nigeria received a total of five billion dollars (about N1.8 trillion) from abroad in support of its renewable energy efforts.
This included funds from the country’s international development partners under Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement on renewable energy projects.
Source: The Guardian
- Published in Electricity
DISCOs sue Nigerian government over business interference
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Electricity distribution companies have dragged the Federal Government to court to restrain it from further interfering in the corporate business activities of the power firms.
According to the firms, the government, through the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission and other agencies, had been interfering in the corporate activities of the Discos, a development, they claimed, had hampered their smooth operations.
Senior officials of some of the power firms told newsmen in Abuja on Thursday that the Discos resolved to take the matter to the court.
Nigeria’s power distribution firms include Abuja, Benin, Eko, Enugu, Ibadan, Ikeja, Jos, Kaduna, Kano and Port Harcourt Discos.
“We cannot continue to fold our arms and watch how the government through its agencies sustain their undue interference in our corporate business activities,” an impeccable source with one of the Discos stated.
The official added, “The NERC, TCN (Transmission Company of Nigeria) and even NEC (National Economic CouncilS) are often interfering in Discos’ activities, and we need to ask the court to call them to order.”
It was gathered that the Discos were asking the court to restrain the affected agencies from interfering in their businesses unless the boards of the power firms were duly consulted.
Officials of the Discos told our correspondent that the court order had been served on the affected agencies, adding that the power firms were also asking the court to NERC from sending forensic auditors to their firms.
Source: Today Ng
- Published in Uncategorized
‘Accountability to electricity consumers, stakeholders key to sustainability’
Operators in the electricity distribution value chain have stated that continued accountability to stakeholders is key to sustained service delivery and growth in the energy sector.
One of the operators, Ikeja Electric (IE) Plc, in its 2018 Sustainability Report titled “Committed to Excellence – Half a Decade of Bringing Energy to Life”, stated that the company remains committed to accountability, responsibility and transparency.
The report, which covers the company’s sustainability journey post-takeover with the inherent accomplishments including rebranding, infrastructure investments, smart technology investment and business process investment also touches on performance improvement among other successes attained from the takeover period up to December 2018.
The Chairman of Ikeja Electric, Kola Adesina, in his introductory statement to the report explained: “The scope of IE’s sustainability reports has moved beyond merely communicating financial risks to performance reporting aimed at fostering stakeholder confidence, long-term risk management, building the company’s reputation and refining its corporate vision and strategy. Through the yearly publication of sustainability reports, IE has demonstrated its commitment to accountability, responsibility and transparency, which have unarguably, distinguished the company in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI).”
According to Adesina, the company aims to publish its report on an annual basis, adding that the intended audience for it are key stakeholders, which include customers, employees, shareholders, suppliers, government and regulatory bodies.
He said: “Since we took over in November 2013, we have put in place, strategies that will steer the electricity distribution arm of the electricity sector value chain to greater heights.
“We have assembled a strong leadership team with extensive experience, robust industry and consumer knowledge, focused on innovation and growth. In addition, we have reinvigorated our legacy of sustainability with the introduction of customer-centric initiatives, which are geared towards assuring all stakeholders of a business built on accountability, responsibility, transparency and fairness. We have demonstrated that with the right leadership, the company can continue to grow and improve its performance as expected by all stakeholders.”
Looking beyond the five years, the chairman noted that: “Sustainability will remain a central focus for the company and its Board. Our customers and other stakeholders are crucial to the achievement of our goals; and we believe that a business can only be deemed strong and successful when its stakeholders are satisfied with the services provided. Consequently, the Board will continue to support initiatives that promote its sustainability agenda while creating value in the coming years.”
The report, which is developed by the company’s Governance & Compliance Office, highlights that in 2018, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) aided the company in securing its social licence to operate and build the trust of its stakeholder groups. Businesses cannot succeed in societies that fail, and as such, the company invested in the achievement of SDGs such as ensuring healthy lives and promoting wellbeing for all at all ages, ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education, promoting lifelong learning opportunities for all; achieving gender equality and empowering women and girls.
Source: The Guardian
- Published in Electricity