Three power distribution businesses have been suspended due to a violation of market regulations, according to the Transmission Company of Nigeria, Entrepreneurng report.
APLE Electric Limited, Kano, and Kaduna Electricity Distribution Companies are the affected businesses. In a statement released on Friday in Abuja, Mrs. Ndidi Mbah, TCN’s general manager of public affairs, claimed that these regulations regulate and sanitize the Nigerian energy supply sector.
She claims that the Market Operator is aware of the necessity to maintain the ongoing viability of the Nigerian electricity supply industry, which necessitates strict adherence to market regulations and the imposition of fines where appropriate.
According to her, the MO followed the proper procedures and followed regulations governing the market while issuing the suspension/disconnection order. The market’s survival and the accountability of non-compliant participants are ensured by doing this.
“The APLE Electric Limited was found to violate the Market Rules for lacking a sufficient bank guarantee and failing to pay APL’s MO’s invoices in full from September 2022 to February 2023.”
According to market regulations, the MO contacted APLE for a bank guarantee for the first time on November 29, 2022, she added.
Mbah said that because the business could not offer the needed bank guarantee, APLE was given a Notice of Event of Default for failing to pay outstanding debts in full on December 7, 2022.
According to the market regulations, a Notice of Intent to Issue a Suspension Order was issued on December 14, 2022, following the Notice of Event of Default.
“APLE asked for a hearing, which was conducted online on December 20, 2022, when it had the chance to justify why it should not be awarded a suspended/disconnected order.”
“As required by the market regulations, a 14-business day notice was published on March 21 in three (3) national daily newspapers (Daily Trust, Guardian, and Thisday). After that, on April 19, a suspension order was issued, requiring APLE to make good on its defaults, she said.”
According to Mbah, the disconnection order was implemented on April 20 by the market regulations.
The Feeders inside the APLE franchise region were disconnected as a result of this order, she continued, until they supplied the necessary bank guarantee and paid their outstanding invoices with the MO.
The lack of sufficient bank guarantees and the partial payment of their MO invoices for the period January 2020 to February 2023, according to Mbah, deemed the Kaduna and Kano DisCos to be in non-compliance with the market regulations.
She claimed that on February 16, 2022, a request for the needed bank guarantees was submitted to both companies by the market rules, but neither company responded.
“In light of the insufficient payment of invoices, she explained, “therefore, a notice of an event of default was issued on March 2, 2022.”
A notice of intent to impose a suspension order, according to Mbah, was issued on May 9, 2022, after the notice of the event.
In conclusion, both DisCos requested hearings, which were held on May 31, 2022 (KEDCO) and June 2, 2022 (KAEDCO), and at which both DisCos had the chance to justify not being suspended or disconnected.
Source: Punch
