NERC transfers regulatory oversight of Ogun electricity market to state government

By Abubakar Yunusa

The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has issued an order transferring regulatory oversight of the electricity market in Ogun to the state’s electricity regulatory commission.
In a statement on Monday, Sanusi Garba, NERCs’s chairman, said the directive would take effect immediately.
According to the statement, the Electricity Act of 2023 mandates states to notify NERC of their plans for intrastate electricity markets and request the commission’s transfer of regulatory authority to the state regulator.
The order also made provision for the Ogun State Electricity Regulatory Commission (OGERC) to direct neighbouring distribution companies (DisCos) to create subsidiaries for inter-state supply.
It added that transfers envisaged by the order shall be completed by June 23, 2025.
“Recall that with the EA 2023, the Commission retains the role as a central regulator with regulatory oversight on the inter-state/international generation, transmission, supply, trading and system operations,” NERC said.
“The EA also mandates any state that intends to establish and regulate intrastate electricity markets to deliver a formal notification of its processes and requests NERC to transfer regulatory authority over electricity operations in the State to the State Regulator.
“Based on this, the Government of Ogun State complied with the conditions precedent in the laws, duly notified NERC and requested for the transfer of regulatory oversight of the intrastate electricity market in Ogun State.
“The transfer Order by NERC has the following provisions:Direct Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDP), Ikeja Electric PLC (IE) and Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) to incorporate subsidiaries: EKEDP SubCo, IE SubCo and IBEDC SubCo respectively to assume responsibilities for intrastate supply and distribution of electricity in Ogun State from EKEDP, IE and IBEDC.
“EKEDP, IE and IBEDC shall complete the incorporation of EKEDP SubCo, IE SubCo and IBEDC SubCo within 60 days from 24th December 2024.
“The subcompanies shall apply for and obtain licences for the intrastate supply and distribution of electricity from OGERC, among other directives.”
The commission had previously transferred regulatory oversight of the power market to Oyo, Imo, Edo, Ondo, Enugu, and Ekiti earlier this year.
On August 21, the commission issued an order transferring regulatory oversight of the electricity market in Kogi to the state’s electricity regulatory commission (KSERC).
Similarly, NERC issued an order to transfer the regulatory oversight in Lagos to the state electricity regulatory commission on December 19.