Electricity: We’ll take another look at power tariffs - NERC assures Nigerians
- The NERC has issued Nigerians of it readiness to deal with power tariffs issues in the country
- The commission said the many problems surrounding the power sector is solvable
- It said that it will henceforth pay closer attention to calculating electricity rates so as to give proper readings to consumers throughout the country
The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) on Thursday, May 3 promised that it will address the issue of tariff computation in view to solve the problems bedevilling it.
Professor James Momoh, NERC’s chairman, said that all needed calculations on electricity tariff will be done only by the commission so as to ascertain the proper amounts to be paid by consumer throughout the country the Punch reports.
READ ALSO: Why Nigerian Internet fraudsters target Chinese, Hong Kong bank accounts - Report
The NERC boss stressed that power tariff challenges were solvable, adding that his team would utilise lessons garnered over time deal with problems confronting the power sector.
He said: “If we are able to teach people to know why things go wrong, perhaps we will learn from our mistakes. We will look back and use lessons learnt yesterday to solve tomorrow’s problems.
"We must begin to anticipate problems so that we can provide solutions. The tariff is just an example. It is not a challenge that you cannot solve.
“It happened, you learnt something about it last week; so, you don’t have to re-learn the same lesson today. We should be able to ask questions to avoid the problem. We have something called data science – the new thinking in the world, where we have idea of you collecting data, you learn from the information and you predict the future.
"If we don’t do that, we will be wasting our time. We have no choice, we have to look at what computes a tariff. It is not a guess work; there is a calculation you do to get there; so, that is an idea.”
Talking about his intentions for the sector, Momoh pointed out clearly that he knew why electricity generation companies usually experienced power outages, assuring the public that he was ready to proffer solutions to the problems.
Momoh said: “I brought with me the knowledge and experience that I have about power engineering and, of course, the ability to work in teams and to address quick wins – what can we do with respect to what we heard about estimated metering, how do we make sure that we get enough data so that customers are also convinced to pay for the power they use based on what we provide.
“At the same time, we will bring the best practices to ensure that we have quality supply and reliable power. What we bring is also to ensure that there is innovation in the industry, because if we remain the same and remain static and not solve real problems, we will just be doing a fire brigade thing.
PAY ATTENTION: Get the Latest Nigerian News Anywhere 24/7. Spend less on the Internet!
“The Gencos will tell you there is a blackout without knowing why. We are going to ask the questions. For me, I know why, because I know the mathematics and economics behind it.”
Meanwhile, Legit.ng reported that the minister of works, power and housing, Babatunde Fashola had traced the challenges in the power sector to 1950 when the first electricity ordinance was passed.
Fashola said on Monday, June 13 that Nigeria had been trying to generate sustainable energy for 66 years but has not achieved that goal, he however expressed the belief that the problems can be solved.
Nigerian electricity crisis explained - On Legit.ng TV
Source: Legit.ng
