ASERA holds consultation on draft regulation

…As ABSG commits to electricity market

 

The Abia State Electricity Regulatory Authority (ASERA) has held a public consultation on draft regulations aimed at getting inputs from electricity consumers and stakeholders for the working document that will help ASERA work and achieve the objectives of the Abia State government in the electricity sector.
Ikechukwu Monday, Commissioner for Power and Public Utilities, while speaking at the event on Thursday, at the Sun Heaven Hotels, Umuahia, said that the

Governor Otti-led administration is committed to building a world class electricity market that works for all classes of people in the state.
He said that the event shows the level of transparency the state government is putting together in building the state’s electricity market.

“You know, this event shows the transparency that we are putting together in building the electricity market.
“One of our key targets and one of the directives of His Excellency, Governor Alex Otti is that we build a world-class electricity market that works for our people.
“So we are building a market where everybody will be a key player. And like they say, the customer is the king,

So, it is not just the key player, but the customer is a very critical stakeholder,” Monday stated.
Monday, while commending ASERA for the significant work it has done in the development of the draft regulations, noted that the event is to get feedback from consumers as key players and critical stakeholders in the efforts of the Governor Otti’s administration towards providing Abians access to reliable electricity as a primary and critical enabler of socioeconomic development.

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He noted that the Aba Power and Geometric Group have over the last six months deployed over 120,000 meters to households within its jurisdiction, noting that efforts are on to replicate the same feat across the remaining local government areas of the state.

Sam Amadi, chairman, Abia State Electricity Advisory Council, said that the key areas of the public engagement dwell on the efficient delivery of electricity services, develop consumer confidence in the credibility and legitimacy of regulatory decisions and the speedy and fair resolution of consumer’s complaints.

Emeka Igwebuike, chairman, ASERA, in his opening remarks, said that the public consultation is to rob minds with consumers and stakeholders in coming up with a working document that would help ASERA work and achieve the objectives of the governor in the electricity sector.

“We have gathered to rob minds, and to also open up ourselves to public scrutiny in terms of what we are doing at the authority and what we stand as a people, as customers, to benefit from what we are doing because we know if we stay in our offices we can make these regulations.

“But without getting input from critical partners like you, that regulation may not succeed. So it’s going to be a room, you can call it an incubation room where ideas would be put forward, challenged, and at the end of the day we will be able to have documents that can help us work and achieve the objectives of Governor Alex Otti in the power sector,” Onyegbule stated.

He noted that the gathering will at the end come up with a guiding law for operators, service providers and customers, and restated the commitment of ASERA in building a transparent, efficient, investor -friendly and customer -focused electricity sector capable of supporting economic growth aspirations and improved service delivery across the state.

“Today marks a very significant milestone in the implementation of the electricity bill, electricity act 2023, and the IPA state’s electricity law 2025.
“By way of background, there is an act at the federal level that was amended in 2023 that created the state’s electricity markets. Now the IPA state’s electricity law 2025 drew its strength from that law to create ASERA and to create IPA state’s electricity markets.
“Both laws have established the legal framework for sub-electricity, sub-national electricity regulation and market development in our dear state, Abia.

“As a statutory regulator of the IPA state’s electricity market, ASERA is committed to building a transparent, efficient, investor-friendly, and customer-focused electricity sector that is capable of supporting our economic growth aspirations and improved service delivery across the state.

“We want to make our markets a market of destinations where investors can have confidence in what we are doing and some of you investors here can testify that we are making efforts to bring you on board and also to be customer-focused,” Onyegbule noted.

Odion Omonfoman, lead consultant, power, Nigerian Governors Forum, in his contribution, described the establishment of the Abia state Electricity Regulatory Authority as a critical step forward for the Abia Electricity market, adding that what guarantees the long-term success of such regulations is its ability to be pressure-tested by the public and its licensees.

He said that the Nigerian Governors Forum recognizes that the success of a decentralized power market relies entirely on fair, commercially viable and consumer -protective regulations, noting that the event sets a standard for public scrutiny, transparency and inclusive governance in the Abia electricity market.
Odion said that the NGF is proud to support the decentralization of the power sector and commended ASERA for moving swiftly and transparently to implementing the mandates of the Electricity Act and the Abia State electricity law.