Written by Albert O. Okorogu, Ph.D.
Abia state is now agog with the recent commissioning of the Geometrics Power’s 188 MW power plant. Everyone is talking about it, even in the sister state of Imo State.
The question is, what does this portend for neighbouring sister states of Imo, Rivers, Anambra etc. Are they going to be beggar states, asking for favors from Abia or could this same event that got people talking, be replicated in these neighbouring states?
Luckily, President Tinubu recently assented to the new 2023 Electricity Act in Nigeria which encouraged states within the Federation to regulate and generate its own power to improve access to modern electricity, productivity, educational achievements/enlightenment, and promote extended social hours, in addition to improving security, comfort and safety of its citizens.
Now Imo State electricity is a complex and convoluted entity that deserves a thorough analysis and understanding of the dynamics at play.
In present day Imo, there are no electricity generation plants, anywhere within Imo State. The NIPP’s Egbema Power Plant has been under construction since 2006, with no end in sight when the power plant will be completed and commissioned.
The only source of electricity is the 125 MW capacity, which at best, operates at 60 MW capacity, supplied via the Owerri 132/33 KV substation at Egbu. Over 80% of Imo citizens, resident in Imo, are in the dark and do not have access to regular supply of electricity.
This has resulted in an epileptic electricity supply across the state. For brevity, across Imo, the electricity supply is very poor and limited by generation shortfall, transmission and distribution infrastructure deficiencies.
In addition, the limited Transmission stations, load rejections by the local electricity distribution company (DISCO), Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC), and failures of most electricity infrastructure in the State, notably; the failures of most Feeders and Distribution Transformers for over a decade now, which have cut-off between 400 and 600 communities in Imo from electricity supply, have also stagnated the state, socioeconomically.
The state loses billions of Naira in daily revenues due to loss of business and economic stagnation.
Therefore, in response to the President’s call on states of the Federation to regulate, generate and distribute its own power, Imo State stands to gain a lot. The state would be better served, if it creates an “Imo state-focused Electricity Market”, backed by an enabling environment, which will bring in investments, create jobs, and enhance Access-to-Electricity across the state by exploiting all energy mix, including Green Technology and our rich endowment with natural gas, huge waste and alternative energy resources, to provide reliable and affordable electricity of more than 700 MW to all Imo citizens, especially those far flung from the grid.
Is this doable? Of course, yes. Imo State Government should enact a “Law” that creates “Imo State-focused Electricity Market”. As a procedure for the enactment, the state should dissolve and/or abolish the “State Ministry of Public Utilities, Energy or Power, and in its place create three independent entities, (1) “Independent Imo Electricity Regulatory Commission (I-ERC), (2) “Independent Imo Electricity Market (I-EM), and “Independent Imo Market Participants (I-MP).
For the I-EM, the Law establishing the Imo State Power and Rural Electrification Agency (see I-POREA Imo State Law No. 32 of 2019) should be reviewed, revised and expanded to accommodate all Imo Electricity Market entreaties.
The I-ERC could be set up to provide regulatory framework for all statefocused electricity matters with synergy with the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) at the National level, and promote support for market growth and customers satisfaction.
I-ERC could also, amongst other functions, organize the transition of responsibility of electricity operations and policies from NERC to State level and translate all applicable Federal Policies to the State.
For the I-MP, the state should establish an entity akin to a State Institute of Power, which should be operated and run like an independent private company, to provide Partial Risk Guarantee to Electricity Players within the state.
The sole purpose of this entity will be to guarantee the fulfilment of electricity projects’ obligations within the State, offering a risk sharing mechanism to provide commercial banks involved in extending loans for generation and distribution of power projects by Independent Power Producers (IPPs) and other electricity market participants, with a partial coverage of risk.
Should these three entities be created by Law in Imo State as shown in the figure below, Imo State would have been set to empower, change and impact lives by bridging the gap in electricity supply in the Nigerian Electricity supply industry.
Enact a Law to establish Imo State-focused Electricity Policy, Comprising:
In summary, Imo State-focused Electricity Market law, could be depicted as:
About the author
Dr. Albert Okorogu writes from the United States of America. He was the first National Coordinator of Operation Light-up Nigeria, former Executive Director of Nigerian National Integrated Power Projects (NIPP), and Author/ Contributor, in collaboration with Germans GIZ and staff of the Federal Ministry of Power, to the first ever National Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Policy in Nigeria, passed into Law in the first quarter of 2015. He was also first Chief Executive of I-POREA.
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