OpeOluwani Akintayo
Lagos — Nigeria is gearing up for what could be termed a new era in its electricity sector reform efforts, as a new Bill is currently being worked upon by its lawmakers, SweetcrudeReports can authoritatively report.
Tagged the Electricity Act, the Bill comes to play almost seven years after the country’s power sector was privatised in 2013.
SweetcrudeReports learnt that already, the Senate has set up a committee to the effect, and the Bill would be presented to the National Assembly latest by this year’s August.
Now, the National Assembly feels the need for a new law for the sector since the one in force at the moment was for enacted pre privatisation of the sector.
“…things have gone beyond privatisation. There has to be an electricity act that will set the framework that touches on energy theft, and how people will be sanctioned. It gives potential investors the comfort to come here and invest knowing that legal framework protects them”, a source privy to the Bill hinted, adding that the power sector’s regulator, NERC, is also supporting the NASS financially to put the Act together.
Nigeria’s power sector still runs on the old law, the Reform Sector Act which was put together by NASS in 2005 to enable government privatise the electricity entity.
The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC through the same old law recently commenced the process of unbundling of the Transmission Company of Nigeria, TCN into Transmission Service Provider, TSP and the Independent System Operator, ISO.
In its latest release- Towards Greater Independence for the Electricity System operator, the Commission said the Electric Power Sector Reform Act provides for the licensing of the successor transmission company initially charged with responsibility for the building and maintaining the physical national transmission network (often referred to as the “wire business” OR “Transmission Service Provider – TSP”) and the system operations function”, NERC said in the consultative paper published on its website.
The Commission is currently seeking stakeholders input in form of advice on the readiness of the sector for the unbundling and how to go about it.