FEDERAL GOVT  TRANSFERS REGULATORY OVERSIGHT OF ENUGU ELECTRICITY MARKET TO STATE GOVT

Following the Enugu State Electricity Law signed by Governor Peter Mbah and the recent constitution of the Enugu State Electricity Regulatory Commission, ESERC, by the Mbah Administration, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has, in a historic move, formerly transferred the regulatory oversight of the Enugu State electricity market to the state agency effective May 1, 2024.

 The transfer was made known by NERC in  an Order  signed yesterday by the Commission’s Chairman, Sanusi Garba, and the Commissioner for Legal, Licensing, and Compliance, Dafe Akpeneye, being the first time NERC would be ceding such regulatory authority to any state electricity regulatory agency.

 NERC, however said the ESERC now holds the exclusive power to set and adopt end-user electricity tariffs within Enugu State, tailoring these charges to local conditions and requirements.

The transfer is sequel to the amendments of the Paragraph 14 (b) of the Second Schedule to the 1999 Constitution by the 9th National Assembly in 2023 as well as the Electricity Electricity Act 2023, both of which effectively moved power generation, transmission, and distribution from the Exclusive List to the Concurrent List and also empowered the states to manage and regulate their electricity markets within their jurisdictions.

 It would be recalled that the Mbah Administration initiated the Enugu State Electricity Bill 2023, which the governor signed into Law in September  same year and also  in March 2024, constituted the Enugu State Electricity Regulatory Commission (ESERC) led by Chijioke Okonkwo as the Chairman/CEO.