By Innocent Obasi
The National Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has brought to fore the conditions under which electricity consumers may purchase transformers, meters, poles or any other assets for Electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos).
Aisha Mahmud, NERC’s Commissioner of Consumer Affairs, who disclosed this while speaking at the 3-day NERC/Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) customer complaint resolution meeting.
Commenting on who has the legal obligation to purchase electricity assets, Mahmud emphasised that it is not the responsibility of the consumers to buy meters, poles or any assets for the DisCos as they have already provided for that in the tariff of the utilities.
“But under any circumstances that you have to purchase these items and you cannot wait for the DisCos to make that investment, we have made provision for that under our investment regulation,’’ she added.
Speaking further, the NERC commissioner urged consumers to sign an agreement with the DisCos outlining when and how they would be refunded for the cost of the transformer or other asset bought when they purchase any electricity-related equipment, according to the power sector regulator.
Shedding more light on the investment regulation, she stated that the agreement should contain a dispute resolution clause and all other items that are expected of a standard agreement.
“What we expect from the DisCo is to use their Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) to buy those assets or rather use shareholders’ investment or borrow from the banks to purchase those assets. In the event that they are not able to buy those assets, customers can come in and they have to be refunded.
“So what the consumers don’t know is that regulation exists, and they go about making all sorts of investments which DisCos say is a donation to them because there is no agreement,’’she explained.
The regulator noted that it was NERC’s duty to inform customers of their legal rights and responsibilities in relation to the power market.
She said that the commission has observed that the majority of consumers were unaware of the existence of the regulator which was of a concern.
“They don’t know their rights, they have a lot of rights that they are not aware of. It was our duty to tell them that it is their right to get a meter as Discos are not doing you any favour to issue you a meter,’’ she noted.
According to Mahmud, NERC’s mandate also included educating consumers about their responsibilities, such as the issue of meters, bypass, or tampering with meters.
According to her, Discos are just mere collection agents and the revenue they collect is not entirely their own as they have to pay gas suppliers, pay the Transmission Company (TCN) and the generation companies.
“So customers should know that once they touch the utilities, they are also sub-charging themselves,’’ she said.
