Ayomide Samson
The Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has caution the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) against dealing with unlicensed individuals and business concerns on the eligible customer basis.
Speaking during the “Power Dialogue” for July, organised by the “Electricity Hub”, Vice Chairman, NERC, Dr. Musiliu Oseni, explained that the TCN could not continue to deal directly with the so-called eligible customers when they had not met the requirements for eligibility.
“The eligible customer regulation was developed by NERC to facilitate competition and access to electricity supply for unserved or underserved high-end users in Nigeria. Introduced in 2017, it specifies the classes of end-use customers that will be able to directly purchase electricity from licensees other than the sole incumbent distribution licensees, the Distribution Companies (Discos).”
NERC said TCN should deal with only those who had fulfilled the eligibility conditions.
Oseni said, “What we have had so far is that there are some of the transactions that are already being recognised as eligible customer transactions by the TCN without the commission’s approval. That was why the commission said, stop recognising them as eligible customers, not that the commission said, stop supplying them, because we said let the billing be done the way it was being done prior to that recognition, when the commission had not issued the permits.”
He stated that currently NERC had only approved one eligible customer, which is Phoenix in Ogun State, explaining that all the remaining eligible customers recognised by the TCN have not secured approval. While stressing that the rules must be followed strictly, he noted that if NERC had not conferred eligibility, any entity doing that was operating illegally. He said the commission had been fair to all parties.
Oseni further stated that NERC was in the process of approving self-reporting apps being developed by vendors that would be able to confirm the number of hours of electricity received by customers.
