Thread by @mickiebrownkie

Now that the GENCOs are producing above 7000 MW of Power while the TCN convey the Power to the DISCOs. It is high time Nigerians know and understand the DISCOs responsibilities which is to supply electricity to the consumers, provide meters and collect the money.

THREAD!!!

Before the privatization, all these three functions of Power Generation, Power Transmission and Power Distribution were substantially Government business, which was run as a monopoly through Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN).

This means that Govt generated the power from various gas and hydro power plants, transported the power from hundreds of substations across Nigeria and distributed the power from distribution stations nationwide, and supplied meters, billed customers and collected the money.

Therefore, it is the DISCOs after privatization who now have responsibility to supply power to the consumers, provide meters and collect the money. Government has retained the responsibility of transmission of power in a company called Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN).

With this, it must be clear to the ordinary person that supply of electricity is now a private business in the hands of the owners of the DISCOs. Meanwhile, because of the critical and sensitive nature of power supply, Gov't has not left the supply of power solely to the DISCOs.

Government at Federal, State and Local Government and the former employees of the PHCN hold 40% of the shares of the DISCOs. Government is responsible for regulating behaviour and compliance through the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC)

which is like what the Central Bank (CBN) is to the Banking Sector, or what the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) is to the Telecoms sector or the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) is to the media.

Government, during the privatization, also took steps to perform its support and enabling role to private sector by setting up a company called the Nigerian Bulk electricity trading company (NBET).

What NBET does is to give confidence to generation companies by guaranteeing to buy bulk power, which is an incentive to GENCOs to invest in building more Power plants because there is an assured buyer.

The power that the DISCOs sell does not belong to them, they are only distributors for a commission under a vesting contract with NBET, who is the person who pays the GENCOs for the power, and vests them in the DISCOs.

All of these arrangements arise from the Electric Power Sector Reform Act (EPSRA) of 2005 which led to the privatization which took place in 2013. That law, which regulates the power sector, recognizes certain categories of persons who can buy power from a GENCO and they are:

I. A distribution company (DISCO)

II. A bulk trader (NBET)

III. An eligible customer declared by the Minister under Section 27 of the Act.

Interestingly no DISCO is buying power directly from the GENCO for reasons only known to them.

They are content to allow the gov't bulk trader pay the GENCO for the power and receive it under the vesting contract which they are not properly performing because they remit only about 15% to 20% of the power they receive and have accumulated debts of about N859 Billion

(Principal and Interest) owed to NBET.

Interestingly, the EPSRA does not make it mandatory for any Nigerian to receive power only from the DISCO or to use only public power. That is why it is not an offence for Nigerians to buy generators, inverters or solar systems which are,

of course, more expensive than the power which NBET buys from the Gencos and vests in the DISCOs to distribute to consumers.

Therefore, who we should turn to when we have no meter, no supply of power, or your transformer is bad,

it is the Discos, who are our service providers, that we should turn to. They are the ones who bill us and collect money of consumption from us.

Thank you.