Power firms uncertain as new supply contracts start July 1

Electricity sector operators appear uncertain as July 1, 2022, the agreed date to activate new sets of contracts they have signed that commit them to deliver 5,000 megawatts of power to Nigerians, draws near.

Sources spoke with operators along the value chains on their state of preparedness to live up to their contract obligations, which place heavy sanctions including revocation of licences for reneging on them, and the responses were tepid.

The distribution companies (DisCos) who spoke to Correspondents also said they were waiting to see how things unfold. “For now, we are following what the commission has directed,” said Abdullazeez Abdullahi, spokesperson of Kaduna Electric. “We are not sure how things unfold; so we will see.”

Sanusi Garba, chairman of Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), in a press briefing in Lagos recently, said the absence of commercial contracts underpinning transactions within the sector had been a major challenge, adding that the commission had resolved the issue by compelling operators to sign contracts for services.