Yemisi Izuora
The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) has urged the incoming management board of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), to be more proactive in holding operators in the electricity industry accountable as the senate prepares to screen the nominees.
The Association also charged the Electricity Distribution Companies to be made efficient just as it sought the enforcement of the provisions of the Electricity Power Sector Reform Act (ESPR 2015).
President of MAN, Dr. Frank Udemba Jacobs, said henceforth NERC should operate as an impartial umpire that enjoys the confidence of all stakeholders to enable it effectively manage the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI).
Jacobs said NERC should establish an all-encompassing stakeholder’s consultative platform with representation from all stakeholders on the NESI value chain adding that the incoming board should treat the decisions of the Customers Forum as mandatory.
The Manufacturers body requested that a special rate be created for manufacturers consuming over 5000kva of electricity while the incoming management should suspend the contentious tariff and revert to previous rates.
According to him, NERC should allow MYTO 2.0 to run its full course (2012 to 2017): This is morally and technically right because MYTO 2.0 was initiated and approved for implementation by NERC to expire in 2017. Based on this, manufacturers have made huge investments and projections.
Therefore, the attempt to railroad MYTO 2.1 when MYTO 2.0 is still running will totally disrupt operational plans of manufacturing concerns nationwide and make Nigerian companies and products uncompetitive.”
Speaking further he noted, “The manufacturing sector currently consumes a high volume of electricity and contributes more to revenue generated by Discos from electricity bills collections. Our position on tariff is that the process should be transparent and should not include parameters like commercial, technical or collection losses, which arbitrarily transfer inefficiencies of the system to paying users of electricity. In fact, the pricing parameters should not be dollarised as vital inputs used in generation of electricity like gas, thermal, hydro (solar, wind) are available locally.”
A United States-based energy lawyer and global head, energy, infrastructure and project finance group, Ruskat Partners, Felix Ayanruoh,also called for establishment of an anti-trust law for the sector.
He said, “NERC should impress it on the Discos that the metering of all consumers is a must and should be carried out timely. The commission should set a timeline for the Discos in metering of all consumers, failure of which may result in huge fines and eventual revocation of operational licenses.”
Meanwhile, the Head of the Power Sector Team at the United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID)-funded Nigeria Infrastructure Advisory Facility (NIAF), Prof. Chidi Onyia, called for the adoption of a “new regulatory practice that is evidence-based rather than what it has been in the past.”
Onyia urged the incoming NERC board to be more proactive rather than reactive and take out time to work with stakeholders within the sector.