NERC meets consumers on 10-year licence renewal for NBET

By Maryam Bello

The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) is to meet consumers and other actors in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) over the application for the renewal of the bulk electricity purchase and resale licence from the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc (NBET).

In a published notice on Monday, NERC said NBET had made the application on 12 February 2021 and would meet with stakeholders on 17 September 2021 to determine this while it also asked for submissions of comments.

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NERC said it issued a bulk electricity purchase and resale licence for the maximum statutory tenure of 10 years to NBET on 15 November, 2011, which authorises NBET to buy electricity from generation licensees (GenCos) with a vesting or sale of electricity to distribution licensees (DisCos).

NBET can also resell electricity to eligible customers and is meant to be a transitional licensee in NESI until the electricity market becomes competitive.

It urged comments on the public perception of NBET in fulfilling its mandate since 2011 and if NBET should continue to operate during ‘substantially/fully competitive market with due consideration of pending legacy issues.’

NERC is also holding consultation to appraise the Meter Assets Provider (MAP) regulation, a paid-for metering initiative, and the National Mass Metering Programme (NMMP) regulation, a free metering scheme which commenced in October 2020.

In a separate notice, the Commission said the essence of the event which shall be held in Lagos on September 16, is to determine whether the regulations are contributing to bridging the metering gap in Nigeria.