Power Outage: 10 States Moved Into Electricity Market – Minister

In a bid to find a lasting solution to the incessant power challenges across the country, minister of power, Adebayo Adelabu, has disclosed that no fewer than ten states have moved into the electricity market.
The minister who disclosed while giving a remarks at the 2nd Annual Socio-economic Summit, organised by the Jericho Businessmen Club, Ibadan, Oyo State, said the development was a product of enactment of the 2023 Electricity Act, signed into law by President Bola Tinubu.

According to him, this represents a major shift in how electricity will be regulated and managed in the country.
The event themed: “Powering Oyo State for Industrialisation and Economic Development”, held at the Ibadan Civic Centre, Agodi, Ibadan, Adelabu who was a special guest of honour, reiterated the numerous efforts of the federal government at improving the sector and addressing bottlenecks across the electricity supply industry value chain in a bid to setting the sector on a path toward bankability and long-term sustainability.

He highlighted the various ways the government was exploring other sources of generating power to ease the hydropower system, adding that the expectations from the state governments in order to maximise the benefits of an autonomous electric market.

He others include provision of security to protect power assets, creation of special courts to enable speedy trials of power assets vandals and intruders, prompt issuance of right of way to power developers, provision of land for power assets like substation or solar plants, abolition of land use charge on transmission substations direct investment in the value chain like provision of distribution transformers, poles and power cable to non-viable communities and investments in Renewable Energy projects across the state among others.

He added that the federal government was working actively to ensure rapid development of infrastructure in the sector to ensure electricity becomes accessible to all Nigerians.

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For this purpose, he said the FG initiated two programs – the Presidential Power Initiative which has operationalised an additional 600MW wheeling capacity in the last one year and the Presidential Metering Initiative which aims to supply 2 million meters by the end of this year to reduce the estimated billing practices in the sector.

He also highlighted the various challenges facing the actualisation of the efforts while also expressing the readiness of the ministry to allow for innovative solutions from relevant stakeholders.

“The idea of exploring ways to enhance our industrial capacity and economic development across the national and subnational governments through platform such as this aligns with our current mandate at the federal ministry of power under my leadership which include developing and prioritising local content, fostering job creation, and reduction of Nigeria’s reliance on imports.

“By boosting our industrial capabilities and developing and promoting domestic capacities in every segment of the Nigerian Power sector value chain, we are not only driving economic growth but also enhancing the sustainability of the power sector in line with the government’s prioritisation to ensure sustainability in the sector.

“Over the past year, the federal government has implemented a multi-pronged approach spanning across legislation, policy, national infrastructure development programs, leveraging bilateral funding to de-risk investment, sector commercialization, and strategic partnership with the investment community and development partners to address bottlenecks across the Nigerian electricity supply industry value chain, setting the sector on a path toward bankability and long-term sustainability.

“One of our biggest achievements this past year was the enactment of the 2023 Electricity Act, signed into law by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. An unprecedented groundbreaking legislation that represents a major shift in how we regulate and manage electricity in Nigeria”, he said.

“For the first time, state governments have been brought into the fold, empowering them to establish and manage their own electricity markets.

“Already, 10 State Electricity Markets including our own Oyo State have been advanced in the process of developing our state electricity market, enabling us to create a more decentralised, responsive, and competitive electricity supply industry.

“This decentralisation is key to fostering innovation, driving investment, and delivering greater energy security for our state”, he said.

Speaking, Oyo State Commissioner for energy, Gbenga Ashamu disclosed that the state had the potential of becoming a power house of industry and innovation if the challenges confronting stable power supply were confronted.

President, Jericho Business Men Club, the convener of the summit, Taofeek Adegoke, believed that achieving the desired stability in the power sector requires addressing the critical challenges of energy poverty.

He added that the 2024 socio-economic summit was seeking an actionable solution that could mobilise resources for sustainable energy development in Oyo State.