NERC erred for allocating consumers using 132kv lines to Discos–TCN


Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has faulted the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) for allocating electricity consumers within the 132kv lines to the Electricity Distribution Companies (Discos).

With this, TCN said NERC had violated the Electric Power Sector Reform Act (EPSR) of 2005, and insisted that it is illegal for the Discos to supply electricity to industries and customers who consume heavy volumes of electricity and are on the 330 and 132 kilovolt (kV) power lines.

TCN’s Managing Director Mr. Usman Mohammed who spoke in Abuja recently at a public hearing on its position on the Transmission Electric Market (TEM) Order, also alleged that NERC encouraged the arrangement with its interim rules and other by-legislations.

Mohammed insisted that the Discos do not incur any form of expenses or cost in servicing consumers within the 132kV lines, adding that such lines were maintained by the TCN and not the Discos.

Mohammed called on the NERC to take off the Discos from the transactional arrangements relating to consumers within the 132kV lines in the eligible consumers’ regulation.

“Discos billing, charging and collecting tariff from 330kV/132kV customers is a violation of the tariff setting principles of the EPSRA. Currently the 330kV/132kV customers of the Discos are being charged industrial tariffs of the Discos.

“Customers on 132kV and 330kV networks only impose costs on Gencos, transmission wheeling system, stabilisation of the grid through ancillary services, market administration. They do not in any way impose costs on the Discos.

 “It is a clear violation of Subsection 76(2) (a) to make Discos bill them at their industrial tariffs because they are not on Discos’ network and do not impose costs on Discos’ operations’’, he said.

 “There is nothing a Disco can do to improve the efficiency of a customer connected to a 132kV or 330kV network. If a Disco cannot affect the efficiency of a customer as stated in 76(2) (b) because is not connected, then the Disco should not charge the customer.

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