NERC Reasserts Zero‑Tolerance for Licencees Breaching Regulations, Plans AI Oversight

The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has reasserted its zero-tolerance stance on non-compliance with regulations, saying licencees that breach regulations in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI)

will face stricter scrutiny as it moves to deepen oversight with Artificial Intelligence (AI).

The commission made this known on Monday in Abuja at a two-day Compliance Peer Review Meeting chaired by NERC Commissioner for Legal, Licensing and Compliance, Dafe Akpeneye, pushing for tighter enforcement across the NESI as well as the integration of AI into regulatory and operational compliance processes in the power sector.

According to a release on its X handle, NERC said the meeting brought together regulatory and compliance officers from across the electricity value chain, including generation companies, the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), distribution companies, the Nigerian Independent System Operator (NISO), the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc (NBET) and other industry stakeholders.

NERC also underscored regulatory compliance requirements tied to market obligations and stressed the reporting obligations of on‑grid licensees to NISO. Those sessions aim to tighten the flow of operational and market information between licence holders and system operators, the commission said.

A notable focus at the meeting was the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into regulatory and operational compliance processes. Officials discussed how AI tools could be applied to monitoring, forecasting and enforcement to strengthen oversight and improve the timeliness and accuracy of compliance assessments.

Participants also reviewed the overall compliance scorecards of licencees in NESI, the status of health and safety report submissions from December to date, progress on metering, regulatory compliance requirements linked to market obligations, and reporting duties of on-grid licencees to NISO.

NERC said the meeting was aimed at strengthening accountability across the sector while improving monitoring, reporting and enforcement through more effective compliance mechanisms.