Prof. Chinedu Nebo, Minister of Power
The long anticipated Transitional Electricity Market (TEM), which is expected to usher in a contractual trading regime in Nigeria’s Electricity Supply Industry (NESI), will eventually start off on January 1, 2015, the Minister of Power, Prof. Chinedu Nebo, said on Monday.
Nebo, in a statement from the ministry in Abuja, stated that the date, January 1, for the take-off of all contractual obligations precedent at this point in time in the NESI had been fixed and would not be changed further.
He noted that operators in NESI are expected to from January 1, 2015 when TEM is declared, begin to trade with each other on extant conditions in trading contracts such as Vesting Contracts and Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) signed amongst them.
The statement explained that Nebo made this disclosure at a stakeholders’ forum, where he also said the main focus of TEM would be the consummation of all contractual obligations as stipulated in the rules.
He added that the declaration of TEM is not the start of the transition but an attempt to make the market more matured and robust and therefore called on all actors to work hard in this regard.
The minister equally pledged that a level-playing field for operators in NESI would be pursued and guaranteed by the government who will by the commencement of TEM, not accept any excuse for the inability of all actors to provide Nigerians with uninterrupted power supply.
Nebo disclosed that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had stated its readiness to help the power sector overcome its financial illiquidity challenges with the intervention funds it recently announced, hence all market participants should perfect their papers in order to access cheap fund under the intervention initiative.
On the chronic shortage of electricity metering facilities for residential consumers, Nebo said the federal government was determined to radically address the lingering metering-gap that exists in the power sector.
This, he said, would help block extant financial leakages and make more resources available for investment by operators.
He also spoke about the negative impact of vandalism on power generation, saying that together with the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, they have perfected plans to stem the ugly tide and increase power generation through access to gas by plants built under the National Integrated Power Projects (NIPPs) and other thermal generation companies.
The statement also quoted the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Power, Godknows Igali, to have requested electricity distribution companies in the country to be more innovative in their electric load shedding arrangements.
Igali said these distribution companies can manage scare resources by shutting out electricity supply in offices at night while ensuring that homes will have their shut off turn in the day time.
THISDAY
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