Business
DID YOU KNOW? It is illegal for Ikeja Electric, AEDC to disconnect customers’ power without prior notice
A serving distribution company (DisCo) is obliged by the law to notify its customers in writing prior to the disconnection of electricity service in Nigeria. Surprised, right?
This is according to the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) regulation on Connection and Disconnection Procedures for Electricity Service (CDPES).
The NERC, empowered by the Electric Power Sector Reform (EPSR) Act, 2005, has an obligation to ensure that the electricity supply industry is efficiently run to satisfy electricity needs of Nigerians.
According to the EPSR Act, NERC is vested with the power to ‘establish appropriate consumers rights and obligations regarding the provision and use of electricity services amongst others.
WHEN A DISCO CAN DISCONNECT CUSTOMERS’ ELECTRICITY SUPPLY
According to the CDPES regulation, a DisCo can disconnect supply when the customer refuses to pay the amount correctly billed, at the payment date.
This is dependent on the following factors:
- The payment date must be clearly indicated on the bill for a DisCo to be eligible to disconnect its customer’s power supply.
- The bill must have been delivered 10 working days before the payment deadline.
- A DisCo must ensure that the payment date has not been superseded by a subsequent payment date issued to the same customer.
That’s not all.
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The distribution company must have checked its records to be sure that the bill had not been paid.
Also, the regulation stated that electricity supply could be disconnected if the customer refuses to provide acceptable identification or security deposit, after the DisCo’s prior written notice.
HOW SHOULD A WARNING BE ISSUED BY A DISCO?
It is unlawful for a DisCo to barge into a customer’s premises to disconnect electricity without first writing to the supply address, even though the customer had outstanding bills before the disconnection date.
The regulation said that before disconnection, the DisCo must have issued a written warning, stating specifically that the customer’s electricity supply will be disconnected, if the payment is not remitted at the appropriate date.
The written warning must contain the date it was delivered to the customer’s address and a telephone number or address where the customer could call for assistance to pay the outstanding bill.
WHEN CAN A DISCO DISCONNECT CUSTOMERS’ ELECTRICITY SUPPLY WITHOUT NOTICE?
The provision stated that a customer’s electricity supply can be disconnected without notice only on three grounds.
When a customer is illegally connected to the DisCo’s network, the company could disconnect the power supply without notice.
Also, when the customers’ installation is deemed to be dangerous to the DisCo’s network, the quality of supply to other customers, it would be justifiable to cut off the electricity supply of such customers.
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WHAT A DISCO SHOULD DO WHEN A CUSTOMER’S METER CANNOT BE ACCESSED
According to NERC’s provision, due to omission by the customer, a meter in the premises of a customer cannot be read for three consecutive times, the serving DisCo could disconnect power supply.
The regulation stated further that this could be done only after the customer has been informed of the meter inaccessibility by written notice or telephone contact. This notification must include a request for the client to provide an access arrangement.
Furthermore, the provision said that the DisCo should proceed to issue a warning notice to the customer, stating that unless access is granted, in not less than 10 working days, electricity will be disconnected.
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN A CUSTOMER’S ELECTRICITY SUPPLY IS DISCONNECTED
The Act noted that the DisCo has an obligation to notify its customer in writing — stating the date, time and reason for the disconnection. Also, the DisCo should inform its client about steps to take for reconnection.
FINE FOR WRONGFUL DISCONNECTION
The Act stated that if a DisCo wrongfully disconnects its customer’s power supply, it would have to pay a penalty fee every day or part of a day for the period of wrongful disconnection.
The DisCo would be mandated to pay a daily fee of N1,000 for residential buildings, N1,500 for commercial buildings and N2000 for industrial and special customer classifications.
The cable
Business
Nigeria’s foreign reserves in marginal increase, now $40.88bn – Cardoso
Nigeria’s foreign reserves in marginal increase, now $40.88bn – Cardoso
Nigeria’s foreign reserves rose to $40.88 billion as of November 21, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Olayemi Cardoso, has said.
Cardoso disclosed this on Tuesday at a press conference after the Monetary Policy Committee’s 298th meeting in Abuja.
He said the external reserves grew from $40.06 billion at the end of October to $40.88 billion in November.
The amount represents an increase of $82 million or 2.05 per cent in 21 days.
“The external reserves rose marginally to 40.88 billion as of 21 November 2024, from 40.06 billion at the end of October 2024, available to finance 17 months of imports,” he said.
However, from the apex bank’s website, the increase in Nigeria’s foreign reserves showed $40.27 billion on November 22.
Cardoso also said, “The process of getting us where we are in terms of reserves has been a long one”.
“It is a clear indication that the policies we have put in place are certainly yielding fruits,” he added.
“However, and it’s very important to make a distinction here and to reiterate the fact that reserves are there for a multiplicity of different purposes, not least of which is to create buffers in the event of unanticipated shocks.
“So they are not there to simply whittle away. They are there to be used to more or less defend yourself where that becomes necessary
“And when we talk about shocks that are not anticipated, I think we can see how the global economies are.”
Cardoso also said the bank would continue to intensify efforts to stabilise the currency and prices.
The CBN governor said, “The currency has been stable compared to what it was in June”.
But he said for the value of the country’s currency to be stable, there must be increased exports and diversification of the economy.
Cardoso said diaspora remittance had increased due to policies put in place.
He commended those in the diaspora for helping the country accomplish over $600 million in remittances.
Business
Naira rises to N1,755/$ in parallel market
Naira rises to N1,755/$ in parallel market
The Naira yesterday appreciated to N1,755 per dollar in the parallel market from N1,770 per dollar on Monday.
Similarly, the Naira appreciated to N1,659.44 per dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market, NAFEM.
Data from FMDQ showed that the indicative exchange rate for NAFEM fell to N1,659.44 per dollar from N1,675.62 per dollar on Monday, indicating N16.18 appreciation for the naira. The volume of dollars traded (turnover) increased by 219.5 percent to $425.98 million from $108.79 million traded on Monday.
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Consequently, the margin between the parallel market and NAFEM rate narrowed to N95.56 per dollar from N117.38 per dollar on Monday.
Naira rises to N1,755/$ in parallel market
Business
PH refinery to blend 1.4-million litre petrol daily – NNPC
PH refinery to blend 1.4-million litre petrol daily – NNPC
Rehabilitated old Port Harcourt refinery is currently operating at 70 per cent of its installed capacity, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited has said.
The Port Harcourt Refining Company (PHRC) operates two refineries: the old refinery with a capacity of 60,000 barrels per stream day (bpsd) and a new refinery with an installed capacity of 150,000 bpsd.
The NNPCL in a statement on Tuesday, said it planned to increase the operation to 90 per cent of the refinery’s capacity.
“The Board and Management of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) express heartfelt appreciation to Nigerians for their support and excitement over the safe and successful restart of the 60,000 barrels-per-day Old Port Harcourt Refinery,” the statement reads.
“This achievement marks a significant step forward after years of operational challenges and underperformance.
“We are, however, aware of unfounded claims by certain individuals suggesting that the refinery is not producing products. For clarity, the Old Port Harcourt Refinery is currently operating at 70% of its installed capacity, with plans to ramp up to 90%.”
According to NNPC, the refinery has commenced production of daily outputs of straight-run petrol (naphtha), which is blended into 1.4 million litres of petrol.
The national oil company said the refinery has also started producing 900,000 litres of kerosene per day and 1.5 million litres per day of diesel.
The NNPC said 2.1 million litres daily volume of low-pour fuel oil (LPFO) would also be produced at the refinery, adding that additional volumes of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) will be refined at the plant.
“It is worth noting that the refinery incorporates crack C5, a blending component from our sister company, Indorama Petrochemicals (formerly Eleme Petrochemicals), to produce gasoline that meets required specifications,” NNPC said.
“Blending is a standard practice in refineries globally, as no single unit can produce gasoline that fully complies with any country’s standards without such processes.”
Additionally, the NNPC said it has made substantial progress on the new Port Harcourt refinery, “which will begin operations soon without prior announcements”.
“We urge Nigerians to focus on the remarkable achievements being realized under the able and progressive leadership of President Bola Tinubu and to support efforts aimed at delivering more dividends to the nation,” the energy firm said.
According to the statement, malicious attacks on “clear progress” only undermine the “significant strides made by NNPC Ltd and the country”.
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