‘Frequent grid collapse worsening business outlook’

• We’re paying for NERC, DisCos’ inefficiencies, say manufacturers
• 105 collapses in 10 years unacceptable, provide lasting solutions, LCCI tasks FG

Local manufacturers have lamented frequent collapse of the national grid, saying production and business operations are being negatively affected.

They lamented that despite being plunged into days of darkness and forced to rely more on alternative energy sources, they were compel to pay for the “inefficiencies” of the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) and Electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos).

Former Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) chair, Apapa Branch, Frank Ike Onyebu, said it was clear that NERC and the DisCos had no regard for them or care about their plight.

According to him, despite being forced unto Band A and made to pay millions of naira monthly on electricity bills, they are still not getting commensurate service that justifies what they are charged.

He lamented that they went without energy in their industrial cluster for weeks and got no apologies or refund from the DisCo in charge, noting that at the end of the month, they were slammed hefty bills than the previous month.

“It is painful what businesses are going through in Nigeria today. We pay more for darkness and gross incompetence and despite practically funding the DisCos, we are still saddled with constant grid collapses, forcing us to spend more on diesel and petrol, raising our costs significantly and we have had to cut back on production,” he said.

Expressing concern over the frequent collapse, the Director-General, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Dr Chinyere Almona, pointed out that this year alone, the country had recorded eight grid failures, with three recorded last week.

She said the worsening performance of the national grid had become an issue of concern to the business community. “Currently, the grid only generates about 4,500MW of electricity for over 200 million people. Meanwhile, South Africa generates over 50,000MW of electricity to service 59 million people. What lessons have we learned from past grid collapses and restoration efforts? By now, after numerous failures, the national grid managers should have identified the root causes and found lasting solutions. It is concerning that there appears to be no clear understanding of these causes or lessons learned from the restoration processes.

After about 105 collapses in ten years, which is unacceptable, power sector stakeholders should know what drives these recurring failures and how to prevent them. We are troubled by the apparent lack of such understanding among regulators in the power sector,” she said.

Acknowledging ongoing efforts and reforms in the power sector, she said they expected government to stay focused on delivering on them quickly.

“With businesses suffering from the burden of poor power supply, we need quick intervention actions to salvage the situation. We urge the government to consider the privatisation of the national grid and support more efforts to scale up metering in the coming months.