FG Orders NERC to Revoke Licenses of Non-Performing DISCOs Amid Energy Crisis

In a decisive move to address the ongoing energy crisis in the country, the Federal Government of Nigeria has ordered the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) to revoke the licenses of non-performing electricity distribution companies (DISCOs).

This decision comes as power generation has dropped significantly, year-on-year, and power supply remains low, impacting households and businesses nationwide.

During a meeting with the heads of power sector agencies, the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, emphasized the need for NERC to impose stiff sanctions on utilities that fail to pick up their allocations and revoke the licenses of underperforming DISCOs.

The government also plans to restructure the distribution segment, creating smaller DISCOs restricted to one state each, in an effort to improve performance and address the weakest link in the electricity supply value chain.

The Minister acknowledged that the distribution companies are currently in the hands of the private sector, but stressed the need for them to perform and meet the expectations of consumers.

He highlighted the government’s plans to improve power generation from the current 4,000MW to 6,000MW in the next six months by paying off substantial debts owed to power generation companies and gas suppliers.

In the short-term, the government will continue to pay electricity subsidies, but it plans to gradually phase them out in the next three years and return the sector to a commercially driven tariff.

The Minister also noted that the ongoing electricity rationing across the country is unacceptable and that the government is committed to resolving the issues in the power sector.

While the government takes steps to address the energy crisis, the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) recently experienced a fire at its substation in Kano.

The incident occurred while TCN engineers were attempting to fix a leakage from one of the transformers.