Generation Companies (GENCOS) have decried mere 24 percent power increase recorded in the sector post-privatisation, saying such weak impact could prevent the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goal-7 of 2030, which focuses on affordable and sustainable energy for all.
Joy Ogaji, managing director of the Association of Power Generation Companies (APGC), raised the concern at the December edition of the NEXIER Power, while also calling for a datadriven electricity market in the country.
“I want to say that the time to act is now. For seven years post-privatisation, our progress report is 24 percent power increase; that is 735 megawatts. Our power increased by over 132 percent, but utilisation was just 24 percent. I don’t see that as a pass, Ogaji said.
Ogaji noted that the coronavirus has severely disrupted the global economy, but offers Nigeria the opportunity to fix the reset buttons and make changes that drive a resilient and data-centric electricity market planning.
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“We have less than ten years to build a reliable affordable and sustainable energy for all as spelt out by the Sustainable Development Goal-7”.
Adekole Elijah, head corporate communications, Jos Electricity Distribution Company, on his part, called on the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) to enact a law that would criminalise electricity theft in the country.
Such law, he argued, has become necessary in order to deepen the ongoing reforms and address liquidity concerns in the power sector.
“I want to urge the regulator to look into the issue of payment mechanisms and ensure a legal framework to encourage power payment. There is nothing wrong with setting up a tribunal on this.
Dafe Akpeneye, a NERC commissioner in charge of legal, licencing and enforcement said inadequate metering and estimated billing were major complaints from electricity consumers, assuring however, that the issues were being tackled by the regulator body.
He explained that the regulator was focused on addressing bottlenecks dragging the sector while expressing that optimism that NERC would be more strategic in tackling concerns in the sector in 2021.
