Issued at the end of the 28th monthly meeting of the Honourable Minister of Power, Works and Housing with Operators in the Power Sector, held on Monday, June 11, 2018 hosted by Kaduna Electricity Distribution Plc at Mando Transmission Station, Mando, Kaduna State.
- Introduction
The Honourable Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN chaired the twenty-eighth monthly meeting of operators in the electricity industry. Kaduna Electricity Distribution Plc hosted the meeting at Mando Transmission Station, Mando, Kaduna State. The meeting focused on identifying, discussing, and finding practical solutions to critical issues facing the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry.
The operators were fully represented at the highest executive management levels, including the Commissioner (Engineering, Performance and Monitoring) of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Managing Directors and CEOs of Generating Companies (GenCos), Distribution Companies (DisCos), and the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), Gas Companies (GasCos) and other government agencies such as the Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC), the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trader (NBET), Nigerian Electricity Liability Management Company (NELMCO) and Nigerian Electricity Management Services Agency (NEMSA) responsible for the regulation and development of the electricity industry, as well as the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC).
- The meeting deliberated as follows: –
- a) The Managing Director of Kaduna Electricity Distribution Plc reported that Consumers within his franchise now get increased hours of power supply daily.
- b) The meeting was briefed about installations of increased Transformer capacity as follows: 60MVA in Zaria, 120MVA in Kakuri and 150MVA in Mando, all in Kaduna State to help improve supply to Kaduna DisCo and its customers in places such as Kaduna Township, Rigasa, Kakuri, Rigachukwu, Chikun, Sabon Tasha.
- c) The meeting reiterated the need for operators to be proactive in resolving issues which affect the quality of service during the rainy season in areas of repairs, maintenance and replacement of obsolete power infrastructure that will happen during adverse weather.
- d) The meeting emphasized the need for the DisCos to regularly get weather information from the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET) to predict service disruption and frequently inform consumers on restoration plans and timelines.
- e) The meeting noted that instances of estimated billing has become a major cause of distrust to customers in the sector and advised the DisCos to leverage on the ₦37billion facility loaned to a Meter Asset Provider.
- f) The meeting noted the following accomplishments since the last meeting, in line with the plans for incremental power:
- That plans are ongoing by the Executive and Legislative Arms of Government to operationalize the Meter Asset Provider (MAP) Regulation by leveraging on private sector experience to bridge the metering gap in the sector using a ₦37Billion Seed Fund provided by Government on one hand, and the consideration of legislation to criminalize estimated billing system to earn consumers’ confidence on the other hand.
- g) The meeting express concern about reports of DisCos not connecting to completed Distribution Assets by NDPHC and REA on the grounds of difficulty in servicing the areas.
- h) The meeting resolved that all DisCos should submit to NERC a list of the areas and communities within their franchise where they have difficulty in serving the customers and state the reasons in other to enable Government review and develop policies that will ensure service to these areas.
