The Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Power, Steel Development and Metallurgy, Mr. Daniel Asuquo has lamented the deepening liquidity crisis in the nation’s electricity market, just as the Committee pledged to support all participants in the electricity market to attain their full potentials.
Representative Asuquo made the lamentations in Kaduna today when he led members of the Committee on oversight assignment to Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company.
A statement by the Head, Corporate Communications of Kaduna Electric, Abdulazeez Abdullahi quoted the law maker as saying that “the Committee is highly disturbed by the huge financial liabilities against the Distribution Companies across the Country which is adversely affecting the pace of development in the Electricity Market”.
He charged Distribution Companies to up their games and ensure significant improvement in their monthly remittance to the market.
“The Discos must build strong partnership and synergy to attract real investment to the industry; that you cannot have without building confidence of investors on the market”, he said.
He also lend his voice to the call for the emergence of full-fledged contract market, which he said “will enable participants in the market freely enter into fair and competitive contractual agreements among themselves.
Earlier, the Managing Director/CEO of Kaduna Electric, Engineer Garba Haruna who was represented by a member of the Technical Team from Tata Power, Delhi-India, Mr. Rahul Kumar stressed the need for review of the wholesale and retail pricing methodology in the market to allow for more transparency and fairness to all market participants.
“The current practice where wholesale pricing changes almost on monthly basis while retail tariff is frozen is largely responsible for the huge shortfall being experienced in the market today and unless this is addressed quickly, the liquidity crisis in the market will continue to hunt us”, he asserted.
Engr. Garba also appealed to the House Committee on Power to continue to exert necessary pressure on relevant agencies to offset the huge outstanding electricity bills owed by Ministries, Departments and Agencies of government, especially military and para-military.
He announced that in an effort to ensure that all meters related complaints by customers are addressed promptly, the Company recently commissioned its ultra-modern meter laboratory.
Other issues discussed during the one day working visit of members of the lower chamber of the National Assembly included the Eligible Customers Regulation, how to bridge the huge existing metering gap, allegations of load rejection by Distribution Companies and other operational challenges affecting the nation’s power sector.