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by Okechukwu Nnodim
The
Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission on Wednesday said the new
regulation mandating the electricity distribution companies to repay
individuals who invested in power network would stand despite
oppositions from the Discos.
According to the commission, such
investments can no longer be ignored as the new rule seeks to establish a
process in which the government, individuals and communities can invest
in the network and have such investments recovered.
The Chairman, NERC, Dr. Sam Amadi, said
this in Abuja at a public consultation on the draft regulations on rate
review and investment in electricity.
He said, “Many communities are making
investments in the network; they provide transformers, pay fixed charges
and complain of not getting the power. Now, we are saying if people
make investments in the network, whether as individuals, communities or
government, the Disco in that jurisdiction has the responsibility of
repaying them or should find a way through energy credit to save them
from double payments.
“Otherwise, it will be very wrong for
them to make investments that they cannot recover, and they still pay
the same amount of money for electricity supply as others. These
regulations are critical to deal with the market and communities’
concern, and it will ensure that by the time we declare the Transitional
Electricity Market in a couple of months, the market will be ready for
all the features of a competitive electricity market in Nigeria.”
Amadi said when the rules were approved,
they would stipulate “that the Discos must be able to take notice of
all investments and they must be able to put them in their investments
registers.”
This, he said, was to ensure that there
was orderliness in investments in the sector, be it from the government
or private individuals.
He also said, “Every investment must be
accounted for and those that invest must have the sense that their
investments are going to be repaid. If it is a Disco, the Disco will
recover from us through tariff; and if it is an individual, the
individual will have to recover.
“We are working on the process because
some buy transformers without the approval of the Discos. There must be a
process by which the Discos certify and agree to allow you to make that
investment and they will certify and agree that they will find a way to
compensate you for such investment.”
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