Just In: Consumers Condemn NERC’s New Eligible Customer Load-Requirement

Just In: Consumers Condemn NERC’s New Eligible Customer Load-Requirement

Consumers under the umbrella of the Electricity Consumers Protection Advocacy Center (ECPAC) yesterday condemned the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) for raising the Eligible Customer Regulations load requirement from 2 Mega Watts (MW) to a minimum of 6MW.

In a press statement issued to The Nation via WhatsApp, ECPAC voiced strong opposition to the NERC 2024 Eligible Customer Regulations criteria, stating that the new regulation, which is difficult to meet, will devastate industries and businesses, leading to significant economic hardship.

Chief Princewill Okorie, Executive Director of ECPAC, issued the press statement, calling for legislative and executive intervention to mitigate the negative impact of these regulations on the economy. He stated, “NERC 2024 Eligible Customer Regulations criteria will kill industries, businesses, and cause economic hardship; the need for legislative and executive action to save Nigeria’s economy.”

Okorie highlighted that the 2MW requirement in the 2017 Eligible Customers Regulation was already challenging to meet, raising concerns about the feasibility of achieving the 6MW, 10MW, and 20MW thresholds set for 2024. He explained, “The 2017 Eligible Customer Regulation was capped at 2MWh/h over the course of one month, contrary to the 2024 Eligible Customer Regulations which brought in 6MWh/h, 10MWh/h, and 20MWh/h.

“It is important to state that information from experts revealed that most businesses found it difficult to reach the 2MWh/h threshold for 2017. Experts were advocating for it to be brought down to 1MWh/h to enable Small and Medium Enterprises who needed power to meet up. Some experts in power are saying that it will be difficult for any business in Nigeria, especially the Small and Medium Enterprises, to achieve the 6MWh/h, 10MWh/h, and 20MWh/h criteria set by NERC.”

Despite attempts to reach NERC Public Affairs General Manager, Dr. Usman Arabi, for a response, phone calls and WhatsApp messages went unanswered.

Okorie emphasized that the need for Eligible Customer Regulations arose from the inability of Licensed Electricity Distribution Companies to distribute sufficient power to meet consumer needs. Business operators requiring power for productive activities struggle with unreliable and poor-quality supply from Discos. Additionally, these operators feel overbilled through estimated billing despite the poor service.

He also noted the issue of power Generation Companies complaining that the amount of power distributed by Discos is usually lower than what they generate, leading to revenue loss. “A situation where 4000MW of power is distributed across a country of over 200 million people with 39,654,385 Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises, employing 59,647,954, according to SMEDAN, shows that the current power supply situation cannot meet the needs of businesses and residents.”

Okorie called for a reassessment of the justification and rationale behind the Eligible Customer Regulations, given the stringent criteria for 2024. He compared the 2017 regulations, which required end-user customers with consumption exceeding 2MWh/h over one month and connected to a metered 11Kv or 33Kv delivery point, to the more demanding 2024 criteria of 6MWh/h for 90 days for point-to-point connection, 10MWh/h for 90 days for new connection to 33Kv network, and 20MWh/h over 90 days for new connection to the transmission network.