Following its refusal to comply with the directive of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) for Power Distribution Companies (DisCos) to comply with the approved minimum remittance threshold in the Order for July to September 2019, two DisCos risk license revocation.
This was contained in a notice sent to the companies by the regulator.
The notice dated Dec. 12 was signed by Commissioner, Legal Licensing and Compliance, Dafe Akpeneye.
The regulator said Enugu Electricity Distribution Company Plc and Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company Plc failed to comply with the remittance directive in the period under review.
NERC had on Nov. 5 served notice to eight DisCos of its intention to cancel their licences for failure to meet their obligated remittance to the market.
“The Commission has reasonable cause to believe that the DisCos listed below have breached the provisions of the Electric Power Sector Reform Act, terms and conditions of their respective distribution licences and the 2016 – 2018 Minor Review of the Multi Year Tariff Order (MYTO) and Minor Remittance Order for the year 2019.
According to NERC, all eight DisCos met the deadline for the submission of written responses showing cause against the cancellation notice and these responses have been filed at the commission.
NERC said: “The remittance to Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading (NBET) Plc by the DisCos to date indicates that six out of the eight DisCos (AEDC, BEDC, IE, KEDCO, YEDC and KAEDCO) met the expected minimum remittance thresholds for the three months of July to September 2019.
“Two out of the eight DisCos (EEDC and PHEDC) did not meet the expected minimum remittance thresholds for any of the three months of July to September 2019.
“The commission reiterates that the failure of DisCos to comply with expected minimum remittance threshold in the order exposes Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) to systemic risk.
“It threatens the sustainability of other parts of the value chain and the ability to improve services to customers.”
