TCN to sanction non performing DisCos

Mr Usman Mohammed, Managing Director, Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), says any Electricity Distribution Company (DisCo) that fails to perform in accordance to the market rule will be sanctioned.

Mohammed, who was speaking on the sidelines of a meeting of West Africa Power Pool (WAPP) in Abuja on Tuesday, said that any Disco that broke the rule would be penalised.

He said that for the sustenance of any business or investment, there must be rules put in place to guide it.

“Without rules, no business or investment will be sustained. So in TCN, we have the market operator who is in charge of operation and function of the market.

“If the operator cannot enforce the rules to ensure that everybody plays according to it, there is no way we can have a sustainable market and TCN effort is to ensure that the market play by the rule.

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He said that whatever TCN was doing they report to the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) who regulates the industry.

He said that enforcement of market rule was not only beneficial to TCN but to the entire electricity market.

News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that in the last few weeks, suspension and disconnection orders had been issued against Kano, Enugu, Eko, Port-Harcourt and Ikeja DISCOs over allegations of infraction of market rules.

TCN has, however, lifted the suspension on Enugu, Eko, Port-Harcourt and Ikeja DisCos after they complied with the market conditions/participation agreement.

However, Kano DisCo is still on suspension.

Some of the DisCos were suspended for failing to increase their security order to the acceptable level, while some did not pay 100 per cent of their invoice for service charge.