*Power supply drops below 2,800MW
Oscarline Onwuemenyi
03 March 2016, Sweetcrude, Abuja – The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, has warned electricity distribution companies, Discos, against wrongful estimated billings and the acts of compelling customers to buy, install and repair transformers and poles.
This is coming as the Commission announced that power supply through the national grid which peaked to 5000 megawatts (MW) in the past two weeks had dropped below 2,800mw due to vandalism.
The Acting Chief Executive Officer of NERC, Dr. Anthony Akah, who disclosed this while signing a Memorandum of Understanding with the Director-General of the Consumer Protection Council, CPC, in Abuja, regretted that millions of Nigerians were not getting the real value of years of reform in the power sector.
Akah further noted that the Commission would soon compel the DISCOs to publish their meter deployment schedules, adding that the publication would ensure adherence to the metering roll out plan contained in the performance agreement signed with government by the utility firms.
“Such publication will make unmetered customers be aware of the estimated period they have to wait before they can be metered,” he stated.
In a statement issued by the Head, Public Affairs at the Commission, Dr. Usman Abba- Arabi, and made available to our correspondent in Abuja, Akah expressed dissatisfaction and worries over the spate of vandalism in the power sector.
The NERC boss, therefore, enjoined the public and the CPC to collaborate with Distribution Companies and security agencies to safeguard electrical installations.
The statement said the MoU between, NERC and CPC was part of concerted efforts to reduce the incidence of estimated billing completely.
Speaking earlier, the Director General of CPC, Mrs. Modupe Atoki, commended NERC for the long-standing relationship between the two agencies.
Atoki, according to the statement, expressed CPC’s cooperation and renewed effort to protect electricity consumers from abuse of their rights.