By Abimbola Ogunnaike
The Federal Government on Monday, 12 February, 2024 read riot acts to power distribution companies that are performing below stipulated standards in the Nigeria Electricity Supply Industry that they are going to lose 50 per cent of their operating expenditures.
The Federal Government handed down this warning through the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission at the 1st NESI Stakeholders Meeting of 2024 held in Lagos.
FG added that the individual performances of the Discos shall be examined on a case by case basis going forward.
Officially, Nigeria has 11 power distribution companies that supply electricity to over 12 million registered power users across the country.
Recall that the successor Discos were privatised in November 2013, alongside the power generation companies that produce the electricity supplied to the national grid.
The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) transmits the power produced by the Gencos to the Discos for onward distribution to users nationwide.
But the sector has been plagued by series of concerns, top among which is the issue of poor liquidity, and complains around the inability of Discos to make adequate financial remittances to the industry to guarantee power production.
But in series of posts on the power sector regulator’s official X handle on Monday, the Vice Chairman, NERC, Musiliu Useni, called on Discos to improve their performance or suffer consequence.
He was quoted as saying, “NERC will look at performance on a case by case basis. Sanctions and actions will not be the same. Ensure that you (Discos) improve your efficiency.
“If your efficiency is at the level expected, you will get your full OPEX (operating expenditure). If you don’t perform, you will only get 50 per cent of your admin OPEX.”
NERC, as the regulator of the power sector, has the power to approve the operating expenditures of Discos and other key operators in the industry, and it has been doing this over the years.
