Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has directed the transfer of its regulatory oversight of the electricity market in Ekiti to the Ekiti State Electricity Regulatory Bureau (EERB) and also the regulatory oversight of the electricity market in Ondo State to the Ondo State Electricity Regulatory Bureau (OSERB).
The directive, contained in a statement issued by the NERC chairman, Sanusi Garba, and commissioner in charge of Legal, Licensing and Compliance, Dafe Akpeneye, is in compliance with the amended constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Electricity Act (EA) 2023, which empowers the sub-national governments to legislate on the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity within respective states.
Specifically, the commission stated that “all transfers between the Benin Electricity Distribution Companies (BEDC), Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC), and EERB and OSERB, envisaged by this order shall be completed by 22 October 2024.”
According to the NERC, the order shall take effect from 1 May 2024 in accordance with the Electricity Act 2023 and the three states have initiated the implementation of the provisions of the recently amendment to the CFRN and the EA.
The commission stated: “Hence the act mandates the Commission to develop a transition plan and timeline for the transfer of regulatory oversight of the intrastate electricity market from NERC to EERC, EERB and OSERB upon receipt of a formal notification from the states.”
NERC further explained that Ekiti and Ondo states have both complied with the conditions precedent in the laws, duly notified NERC and requested for the transfer of regulatory oversight of the intrastate electricity market in the states.
The commission noted that the transfer order had directed the BEDC and IBEDC to incorporate subsidiaries BEDC SubCo and IBEDC SubCo to assume responsibilities for intrastate supply and distribution of electricity in Ekiti and Ondo states from BEDC and IBEDC.
The directive further stated: “A transfer of regulatory oversight notification shall be issued by the Commission to the companies in the register whose activities are limited within Ekiti and Ondo States, informing the entities of the transfer/assumption of regulatory oversight for their activities by EERB and OSERB. All cross-border transactions involving the national grid shall be subject to the approval of the Commission in accordance with the CFRN and
“EERB and OSERB shall have the exclusive responsibility of determining and adopting an end-user tariff methodology applicable within its area of regulatory oversight. Where the SubCos receive electricity from grid connected plants, the contracts and tariffs applicable for generation and transmission services shall be approved by the Commission. The final end-user tariffs approved by the Bureaus shall be the exclusive tariffs that apply in Ekiti and Ondo States and all tariff policy support for end-use customers in the states shall be the responsibility of the Ekiti and Ondo State governments,” the NERC added.
However, the commission stated that it would continue to play the role as central regulator with regulatory oversight on the inter-state/international generation, transmission, supply, trading and system operations based on the provision of the EA 2023.
It would be recalled that the Commission had earlier on Monday directed the transfer of regulatory oversight of the electricity market in Enugu from the Commission to the Enugu State Electricity Regulatory Commission (EERC) in an order marked NERC/2024/039.
