The Enugu State Electricity Regulatory Commission (EERC) has beaconed on investors within and outside the country to see Enugu as a fertile state in the energy and power sector with a huge potential for return-on-investment.
The Commission stated this on Friday at its first stakeholder engagement and consultation with the heads of the state’s various ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) in Enugu who are expected to serve as key partners and enablers of the anticipated investment flows in the sector.
Presenting the Enugu State Electricity Market model to the stakeholders, the Chairman/CEO of the commission, Mr Chijioke Okonkwo said the meeting was the first in the series of stakeholder discussions that would follow, adding that market feasibility had shown that Enugu would not only generate its electricity consumption, it would also have the capacity to sell to other states and entities.
The Chairman also used the opportunity to present highlights of the draft regulatory instruments already developed by the Commission for the regulation of the State Electricity Market which include, Licensing Regulations; Captive Generation Regulations, Tariff Methodology Regulations and Customer Relations and Protection Regulations.
He further reiterated assurances that the process would be credible, transparent, fair and non-discriminatory, with government minimal interference in the generation and distribution of power across the state, saying what made the state lucrative for investment in the energy market was the high percentage of the underserved and unserved population that were in need of energy to run their businesses.
He noted that the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC) was receiving a meager of less than 400 megawatts for the entire population it serves in the South East while residents of Enugu generate over 500 megawatts of its daily energy consumption through generators.
According to him, with investors playing in the electricity market in the state, the energy need of the population would be solved while return-on-investment would be guaranteed since there exists willing buyers in the under-explored market.
Chijioke equally emphasized the pivotal role of the Enugu State Electrification Agency, an agency also created by the Enugu State Electrification Law 2023, in the state’s electrification plan, which shall be implemented in collaboration with the private sector developers and other MDAs, and appealed for their support.
With the recent successful engagement of the first critical stakeholder group, the Commission said it would kick-off its more targetted engagements with its several stakeholders, including different customer categories, operators, developers, investors, and the general public in the coming weeks.
Meanwhile, the Commission has called on members of the public to access its referenced draft regulatory instruments through its website; www.eerc.en.gov.ng.
It will be recalled that the EERC is an independent regulatory authority that is charged with the mandate for the regulation of electricity operations in the state. The Commission was established under the Enugu State Electricity Law No. 1 of 2023, and has the responsibility of developing a commercially viable, sustainable and reliable electricity market that serves all the residents of the state as well as industrial and commercial clusters.
