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Minister of Power, Works and Housing with operators of the
Power Sector, Held on April 11, 2016 at Calabar Power Plant,
Odukpani, Cross River State.
The Permanent Secretary (Power) of the Federal Ministry of Power, Works and
Housing, Mr. Louis Edozien chaired the fourth monthly meeting of operators in the
electricity industry in furtherance of identifying, discussing and finding practical
solutions to issues facing the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry.
The operators were fully represented at the highest executive management levels,
including Managing Directors and CEOs of Generating Companies (GenCos),
Distribution Companies (DisCos), and the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN),
as well as various government agencies such as the Niger Delta Power Holding
Company (NDPHC) Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trader (NBET), Gas Aggregating
Company of Nigeria (GACN), the Nigerian Electricity Liability Management
Company (NELMCO), the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) and
Nigerian Electricity Management Services Agency (NEMSA) responsible for the
regulation and development of the electricity industry.
The meeting deliberated on various issues and agreed as follows:
i. The meeting committed to treating all decisions made as binding. To this end,
a unanimous resolution was made regarding strong sanctions against
operators who fail to act on decisions agreed at the meetings. The meeting acknowledged the need to improve on the responsiveness and
awareness of the Distribution Companies’ (DisCos’) Customer Complaints
Units (CCU), to ensure that all complaints from paying customers are
acknowledged and resolved swiftly. Resolutions were made to publicize
dedicated customer complaints lines in four national newspapers by each
DisCo in order to support this objective in the next two weeks.
iii. The meeting reiterated the need for more aggressive rollout of metering for
all customers. In this regard, Eko, Kano, Kaduna and Jos DisCos confirmed
plans to aggressively deploy recently procured metering starting in May
2016. Abuja DisCo assured the meeting that it plans to meter 100,000
households by the end of the year, and Port Harcourt DisCo intends to install
110,000 by the end of the year.
iv. The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) informed the
meeting of the activation of the agreement between Paras Energy and Eko
DisCo to provide 40MW to the Lagos area, as well asthe agreement between
Ikeja and Eko DisCos, with Egbin power plant for dedicated supply totalling
220MW.
v. The meeting resolved that Port Harcourt DisCo and Calabar and Ibom Power
Plants can proceed with their bilaterally negotiated agreement to supply
currently stranded power, starting with 150MW to 250 MW. Port Harcourt
DisCo will invest in infrastructure in Akwa Ibom and Cross River to receive
the power and deliver it to customers at the approved tariff.
vi. TCN announced that projects critical to improving power distribution in Aja,
Kebbi, Kafanchan, Otukpo, Makurdi, Wudil, Afam, Daura, and Kwanar
Dangora are completed or nearing completion. meeting acknowledged the shortage of gas, limiting power output from
power stations connected to the ELPS pipeline, and supported ongoing
discussions between the Honourable Minister of Power Works and Housing,
and Ministry of Petroleum Resources to facilitate additions in gas supply and
the repair of the Forcados Oil Export Line to ameliorate the gas shortage.
