The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) says it has initiated a process that may lead to the sack of the management boards of the 11 electricity distribution companies (Discos) over poor performance.
Commissioner for Engineering Performance and Monitoring, Prof. Frank Okafor, made the disclosure at the 16th edition of the monthly power sector operators’ meeting hosted by the Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC) Limited at Ugwuaji, Enugu State.
He explained that the NERC has had enough of operational excesses of the Discos, especially failures to abide by the performance agreements they signed to provide meters for electricity consumers in the country.
Recall that NERC at the weekend said electricity consumers that were not provided with prepaid meters as at March 1 should stop paying electricity bills presented by Discos.
At the meeting, the commissioner referred to the situation, lamenting that the companies resorted to unfair practices of estimated billing of consumers.
“There are so many challenges, I will tell you, and I will also tell you that a lot of the Discos have not done well in metering people. They committed to certain level of metering every year, but they have not done that,” Okafor said.
“We are looking at very heavy sanction including calling off the boards of some Discos and replacing the boards. It is going to be as bad as that very soon because NERC has a right just like the Central Bank does to the banks, to sack the board and put in a new board.
“We cannot continue to suffer like this and power as you know without it we cannot do much. If we are going to impose any sanctions, it is going to be based on the performance agreements they signed. There are also commitment they made in this meetings and some of them have not done much.
“Remember there was the NEMSF fund which was to beef up the metering commitment of the Discos but it doesn’t appear they are doing that and we are working to make sure that they have to do that.
“NERC developed a procedure for estimated billing, but what the Discos claim they do is definitely not what they should do and we are looking at that. The metering rates should increase tremendously, and if you must estimate, it must be reasonable because there are ways of estimating and they know but want to reap where they did not sow”, he added.
Comments