The declaration of
Eligible Customers (EC) in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) in
2017 has sent the right signals to investors that the NESI is progressing
towards retail competition. However, it seems the Nigerian Electricity
Regulatory Commission (NERC) is yet again trying to walk before it crawls by
introducing competition transition charges (CTC) that may discourage potential
eligible customers (PEC) and investors from taking advantage of the business
opportunities presented by the recent declaration.
This is not the first time
we have seen how the timing and implementation of policy directives can make or
mar the chances of the power sector surviving turbulent and stormy periods. It
is against this backdrop that we analyse the current plans of NERC to introduce
CTC in the NESI as it can potentially lead to an increase in the cost of
electricity supply (tariffs) to all consumers.
