Operators in the power sector held their 3rd meeting with the Nigerian electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) recently to discuss some of the nagging issues in the industry and arrived at some collective decisions for the betterment of the industry, MUSA ADAMU writes.
The meeting, which had in attendance, the chief executive officers of the distribution companies (DISCOs), generation companies (GENCOs), independent power producers (IPPs) and other stakeholders, took a far reaching decision including the appointment of dispute resolution counsellor (DRC).
The appointment of the DRC, Dr.MammanLawan, a professor at the Bayero University Kano, is line with Rule 42.3.1 of the market rules (MR) for transitional and medium term stages.
According to the chairman of NERC, Dr. Sam Amadi, the DRC is essentially expected to evolve a system of alternative dispute resolution for market participants in the system- and market operator-controlled Nigerian electricity market; thereby providing regulatory and commercial certainty in the fair and speedy resolution of disputes that arise among these participants.
“The engagement of the counsellor cannot come at a better time as there are a number of disputes that have arisen between operators and the market operator, and system operator. These disputes are mainly to do with load allocation and inconsistencies in invoicing.
The counsellor is to work with a dispute resolution panel, soon to be constituted by NERC,” he said.
Also discussed at the meeting, was the issue of laod allocation, system upgrade and investment in the network and for these, it was announced that the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) would meet with Eko DISCO to develop a framework for investment in the network.
On the lingering issue of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) staffing, NERC informed that it had written to the Vice President, NamadiSmabo, requesting for a meeting to deal with issues.
It further disclosed that the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) had set up a taskforce which is currently conducting a verification of staff that have not been paid and that reports of progress in this respect were confirmed from Yola, Kaduna and Abuja DISCOs.
And for the statement of accounts of DISCOS and GENCOs, it was revealed that most of them were up to date with their audit requirements for up to 2012.
It said out of eleven DISCOs, nine had sent in their bank statements and that the Market Operator’s response was being awaited for the matching review exercise which is going to be conducted soon.
On the remittances by these companies however, NERC said despite improvement in revenue collections, only three DISCOs made full remittances.
“Eight DISCOs did not meet baseline remittances. NERC is to send out a notice to defaulting companies to allow for explanation/justification for late filing of statements of account within a specified timeframe in line with due process.”
Regarding to payments due to the GENCOs for generated power from the Market Operator, it was informed that Kainji and Jebba hydroelectric stations had been asked to write to the Commission regarding pending payments by the MO.
On the debt collection and revenue recovery, Amadi informed the meeting that the required letter had been written to President Goodluck Jonathan, emphasizing the need for a service-wide circular communicating the grave consequences that non-payment would have on the sector.
Reviewing of gas supply constraints, the commissioned informed that meetings had been held between it and thermal generators, the Presidential Task Force on Power (PTFP) and Gas Companies to discuss issues of gas-to-power.
“An initial meeting was held with the GENCOs to identify where, in the short term, stranded capacity for natural gas could be maximized. A meeting was also held with the Group Executive Director (Gas & Power) at the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation – NNPC on these issues bearing in mind that NERC does not regulate the gas industry.
“Points noted include the need to draw up a schedule for repairing damaged pipelines. NNPC pledged to improve security of pipelines. Also reiterated was the need for all parties to look at the underlying considerations of the MYTO in terms of available capacity.
“The Importance of shoring up delivery of gas to certain companies so as to ensure grid stability as well as the need to tie eastern gas to western gas (The East-West Gas project has been set for completion in 2016 by the NNPC) were also discussed.”
