At Stakeholder Meeting Enugu Electricity Regulatory Commission Woos Investors
At Stakeholder Meeting Enugu Electricity Regulatory Commission Woos Investors: The Enugu State Electricity Regulatory Commission (EERC) has
beaconed on investors within and outside the country to see Enugu
as a fertile state in the energy and power sector with a huge potential
for return-on-investment.
The Commission stated this on Friday at its first stakeholder engagement
and consultation with the heads of the state’s various ministries,
departments and agencies (MDAs) in Enugu who are expected to
serve as key partners and enablers of the anticipated investment flows in the sector.
At Stakeholder Meeting Enugu Electricity Regulatory Commission Woos Investors: the model
At Stakeholder Meeting Enugu Electricity Regulatory Commission Woos Investors: Presenting the Enugu State Electricity Market model to the stakeholders,
the Chairman/CEO of the commission, Mr Chijioke Okonkwo said the
meeting was the first in the series of stakeholder discussions that would follow,
adding that market feasibility had shown that Enugu would not only
generate its electricity consumption, it would also have the capacity to sell to other states and entities.
The Chairman also used the opportunity to present highlights of the draft
regulatory instruments already developed by the Commission for the
regulation of the State Electricity Market which include, Licensing Regulations;
Captive Generation Regulations, Tariff Methodology Regulations and Customer Relations and Protection Regulations.
the assurance
He further reiterated assurances that the process would be credible,
transparent, fair and non-discriminatory, with government minimal
interference in the generation and distribution of power across the state,
saying what made the state lucrative for investment in the energy market
was the high percentage of the underserved and unserved population that
were in need of energy to run their businesses.
He noted that the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC) was receiving
a meager of less than 400 megawatts for the entire population it serves in the
South East while residents of Enugu generate over 500 megawatts of its daily
energy consumption through generators.
the investors
According to him, with investors playing in the electricity market in
the state, the energy need of the population would be solved while
return-on-investment would be guaranteed since there exists willing
buyers in the under-explored market.
Chijioke equally emphasized the pivotal role of the Enugu State Electrification
Agency, an agency also created by the Enugu State Electrification Law 2023,
in the state’s electrification plan, which shall be implemented in
collaboration with the private sector developers and other MDAs, and appealed for their support.
the engagement
With the recent successful engagement of the first critical stakeholder group,
the Commission said it would kick-off its more targetted engagements with
its several stakeholders, including different customer categories, operators,
developers, investors, and the general public in the coming weeks.
Meanwhile, the Commission has called on members of the public to access
its referenced draft regulatory instruments through its website; www.eerc.en.gov.ng.
It will be recalled that the EERC is an independent regulatory authority that is
charged with the mandate for the regulation of electricity operations in the state.
The Commission was established under the Enugu State
Electricity Law No. 1 of 2023, and has the responsibility of developing a
commercially viable, sustainable and reliable electricity market that
serves all the residents of the state as well as industrial and commercial clusters.