NERC Can Do More

NOT much is known about what the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission does. The truth, though, is that Nigerians are unlikely to take an organisation that has anything to do with electricity serious.

Some circumstances are thrusting NERC into the public glare. The death of a girl through electrocution in Abuja is one of them. The incident took place last April 18.

The Abuja Electricity Distribution Company Limited, AEDCL, one of the many companies that the former National Electric Power Authority, NEPA, spewed, without any visible improvement in power supply, is in the dock. When the death was reported to NERC, it set out guidelines for all operations of AEDCL, as they relate to the location of their transformers and sub-stations, based on NERC’s initial investigations of the incident.

NERC asked AEDCL to - Clear the bushes and trees in the sub-station; Construct barbed wire fence and fit a gate to separate the place from the walk way; Compensate the family of the victim for the loss; and Carry out an audit of the substations in Abuja and come up with a programme for making them secure.

AEDCL responded with details of its compliance, adding that it was embarking on campaigns to sensitise the public to the dangers of being close to its installations. NERC was not satisfied. After inspections of the installations, including one last February, it thinks AEDCL still runs foul of existing regulations.

“The Commission carried out several inspections of the sub-stations in the respondent’s area of operation, the last being that of February 22, 2008, and observed that they have not been secured to ensure the safety of lives and property as directed by the Commission and in accordance with existing regulations,” NERC stated in a public notice inviting AEDCL to a hearing on the issue. NERC should do more with the enormous powers the law gives it.

Electricity installations all over the country are hardly constructed with a consideration for the safety of the public. If a modern city like Abuja has power installations that endanger the safety of the public, it takes little imagination to know what happens in places with power installations that are more than 50 years old. Some newer ones could be more dangers.

Its inspections of the AEDCL installations should be extended to other parts of the country. The findings would be startling. The public does not even know that NERC handles cases of electrocution, which abound all over the country, especially when the rains come. The Abuja case cannot be treated in isolation.

NERC should be proactive by setting standards for installation of electricity equipment and ensure compliance. It serves little purpose calling for hearing after deaths or destructions from power installations.

This case could open a floodgate of petitions to NERC over power installations that put the public in perpetual danger. NERC’s capacity to tackle the cases can be enhanced by enforcing regulations that would minimise these cases.