The failure of governors to take advantage of the new Electricity Act 2023 has made states to continue struggling with epileptic power supply, DARE OLAWIN writes
In June 2023, President Bola Tinubu signed the new Electricity Act into law, heeding the calls of Nigerians that the power sector be reformed and removed from the exclusive list. Before the President assented to the bill, governors, both former and incumbent, had called on the Federal Government to give states the power to generate, transmit and distribute electricity within their jurisdiction. This, Nigerians believe, would help in proffering lasting solutions to the country’s power problems. However, seven months after the electricity bill became a law, nothing significant has been done by many of the governors.
The new law replaces the 2005 Electricity and Power Sector Reform Act as it seeks to promote private sector investments in the power sector. It provides for a holistic, integrated resource plan and policy that recognises all sources for the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity, including the integration of renewable energy into Nigeria’s energy mix.
The new act permits the state electricity board or any state authority by whatever appellation, to grant licence for mini-grids and provide the framework for the operation of such licensees. With this, the Federal Government has succeeded in removing electricity from the exclusive list, allowing states and private individuals to invest in the sector.
The 2023 Electricity Act allows constructing, owning, or operating an undertaking for generating electricity not exceeding one megawatt in aggregate at a site, or an undertaking for distribution of electricity with a capacity not exceeding 100 kilowatts in aggregate at a site, or such other capacity as the commission may determine from time to time, without a licence.
