Gencos Accuse DisCos of Hiding Accounts

The crisis in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) got messier as the electricity generation companies (Gencos) asked the electricity distribution companies (DisCos) to open their account books for scrutiny.

Whereas the DisCos had condemned the request from the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) to escrow their accounts, the Gencos under the auspices of Association of Power Generation Companies (APGC), described it “as not just a welcome development but also a wake-up call to all participants in the electricity market.”

Dr Joy Ogaji, APGC Executive Secretary, who addressed reporters in Abuja yesterday, recalled that a fortnight ago the Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors (ANED) likened the move to centralise their revenue accounts to the nationalisation of the Discos.

Ogaji expressed surprise that Discos are churning out stories and “crying wolf” to gain consumers’ sympathy whereas the NERC enacted the tariff with their consent.

She added that “there is something that Discos are not telling the people. What government is calling for is not just escrowing but visibility.”

She, however, explained that the electricity sector is a value -chain that needs to be remunerated as applicable covering the cost of generation, transmission and distribution.

The Gencos, according to her, are entitled to “60% of markets remittance as they not just generate power but also pay for gas supply and gas transportation. Transmission charge cost 11%, distribution gets 25% while the remaining 4% is meant for regulatory charges and NBET.

” The revenue referred to by the distribution companies are not their personal revenue but market funds to which they were made trustees to collect and remit.”

Continuing, Ogaji revealed that the poor remittance of market funds by the DisCos has prevented the rest of the electricity value-chain from meeting up with their operations and also service their liabilities which includes gas payments.

The APGC said that Gencos, the supply sector of the industry, can no longer perform required scheduled maintenance and also pay for gas supply.

This, she said, has made the need to monitor the flow of market funds necessary to enhance transparency in the market and also give the regulator the ability to identify the issues that will progress the sector and act accordingly in advising the government and stakeholders where funds actually needs to be plugged into in order to bring about self-sustenance and competitiveness.

According to her, the federal government are now owing the Gencos over N500billion that excludes interest, which has made paucity of cash the major challenge of the operators.

Asked to comment on the N701 government intervention that is underway for the power sector, she said the Gencos were not consulted but only read about it in the newspapers.