Over 20,000 members of the Aba Landlords Protection and Development Association (ALPDA) have threatened to mobilise to the Alaoji Power Plant in Abia State and occupy it if the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) fails to rescind within the next 24 hours its order that disconnected the Aba Power Limited from the national grid which threw nine local governments in Abia State into darkness over N896 million debt.
This was just as the TCN at the weekend explained that it removed the Kano and Kaduna Electricity Distribution Companies (Discos) as well as APLE Electric Limited from the national grid because they breached the rules guiding the market.
However, a former senior engineer with the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), Mr. Cliff Eneh, has claimed that the TCN, or any unit of it like the Market Operator was not licenced to act as a market operator, adding that the transmission company acted unprofessionally.
Speaking during the weekend at a press conference in Aba, the President General of ALPDA, Mr. Alphonsus Udeigbo, who was flanked by executive members of the association, said that the disconnection of Aba Power from the sole transmission network violated the Electricity Industry Market Rules (EIMR) of 2010 on two grounds.
The TCN had written a letter to Aba Power on April 19, 2023, asking it to pay its debt of N896 million within one month, but on the same date directed the market operator, a unit in the transmission company, to remove Aba Power completely from the national grid within a few hours.
Udeigbo said: "This amounts to a profound and deliberate contradiction in a very sensitive sector. It is a flagrant violation of market rules."
He also claimed that the second breach of the market rules in the power sector was that the Aba Power was not notified of the TCN's order to the market operator to disconnect it from the nation's sole transmission network.
According to him, "both the market rules and natural justice demand the other party must be put on notice."
At the news conference, Udeigbo read out a letter of the association to the Market Operator, Dr. Edmund Aje, which was signed by the Chairman of ALPDA Board of Trustees (BOT), Mr. Leo Ike Okoye; the BOT Secretary, Mr. B. Okoro; Deputy President of ALPDA, Mr. Leo Onyemesiri; the Secretary of ALPDA, Mr. Benson Imo, and the Legal Adviser of ALPDA, Mr. Ejike Obi.
The letter read: "We, on behalf of ourselves and on behalf of electricity consumers within Aba and environs, hereby demand you lift the said Disconnection Notice MO-DO/TCN/002/2023 within 24 hours from the date of the receipt of this demand letter having failed to comply with the market rules as well as the content of own suspension notice.
"Take note that in the event of your refusal to lift the order within the stipulated period, we, the electricity consumers who are now being made to suffer the consequences of your action by throwing us into darkness since over a week now shall have no option to embark on a peaceful protest to your office at Alaoji Aba."
Eneh, who is an energy consultant and also a former senior engineer with the Texas Power and Light Company in the United States, chided the TCN for its alleged unprofessional action and noted that the Alaoji Power Plant supplies power to not just the South-east but also the South-south, up to Edo State.
He said: "The TCN, from the evidence before me, has acted unprofessionally and arbitrarily against Aba Power.
"It needs to ensure that the matter doesn't escalate, otherwise heads will roll there.
"Legally speaking, the TCN or any unit of it like the Market Operator, is not licensed to act as a market operator.
"In fact, there are a lot of issues I don't want to get into right now so that the power sector will not go into a tailspin."
TCN: Why We Cut Off Kano, Kaduna Discos, One Other from National Grid
Meanwhile, the TCN at the weekend explained that it removed the Kano and Kaduna Electricity Distribution Companies (Discos) as well as APLE Electric Limited from the national grid because they breached the rules guiding the market.
A statement by the TCN, signed by its General Manager, Public Affairs, Ndidi Mbah, said the Market Operator (MO) was mindful of the need to ensure the continued sustenance of the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI), which requires strict adherence to the market rules and the application of sanctions where necessary.
The TCN added that the market operator suspended APLE Electric Limited, Kano and Kaduna Electricity Distribution Companies for breach of the Market Rules, which governs and sanitises the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry.
Due diligence, it said, was observed by the market operator before issuing the suspension/disconnection order which was in accordance with procedures of the rules guiding the market.
According to the TCN, the move was to ensure the preservation of the market and that non-compliant participants are held accountable for their actions.
For APLE Electric Limited, Mbah stated that it was found to be in non-compliance with the market rules for not having adequate bank guaranty and for incomplete payments of its market operator's invoices for September 2022 to February 2023.
The TCN stated that the market operator first sent a request for a bank guarantee to APLE on November 29, 2022, stating however, that the company failed to provide the required bank guarantee. Consequently, it stressed that a notice of event of default was issued to APLE on December 7, 2022, for incomplete payment of issued invoices.
"Following the notice of event of default, a notice of intent to issue a suspension order was issued on December 14, 2022. Based on the market rules, APLE requested for a hearing which was held online on December 20, 2022, where APLE was given an opportunity to show just cause why it should not be issued a suspension/disconnection order.
"After the hearing, a 14-business day notice was issued on March 21, 2023 in three national daily newspapers as required by the Market Rules. Thereafter, a suspension order was issued on the 19th of April, 2023 which required APLE to cure its defaults.
"The disconnection order was carried out on the 20th of April, in line with the Market Rules. This order resulted in the disconnection of the feeders within the APLE franchise area until such a time that they provide the required bank guarantee and settle their outstanding invoices with the Market Operator," it stated.
On Kano and Kaduna Discos, TCN said they were equally found to be in non-compliance with the Market Rules for not having adequate Bank Guarantees and for incomplete payments of their Market Operator's invoices for the time-line January 2020 to February 2023.
Both companies, it said, were sent a request for their Bank Guarantees in line with the Market Rules, on the 16th of February 2022 and they failed to provide the required Bank Guarantees. Consequently, a Notice of Event of Default was issued on 2nd of March 2022, for incomplete payment of invoices.
"This was followed by a Notice of Intent to Issue a Suspension Order, issued on 9 May 2022. Both Discos requested for Hearing which were held on 31st May 2022 (KEDCO) and 2 June 2022 (KAEDCO), where both Discos were given an opportunity to show just cause not to be suspended/disconnected.
"After the hearing, a 14-business day notice was issued on the 21st of March, 2023 in three national daily newspapers as required by the Market Rules. Thereafter, a Suspension Order was issued on the 20th of April 2023, which required KAEDCO and KEDCO to cure their Defaults.
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The Disconnection Order was then carried out on the 26th of April, 2023 in line with the Market Rules. This order resulted in the disconnection of the major Feeders within the franchise areas of both KAEDCO and KEDCO, until such a time that they provide the required bank guarantees and settle their outstanding invoices with the Market Operator," it added.
Relatedly, the Market Operator, the TCN last night announced that it was set to reconnect, at midnight today (May 1, 2023), the three Discos earlier disconnected from the electricity power grid as a result of non-compliance with the Market Rules.
It said the development was coming after the intervention of the Minister of Power, Abubakar Aliyu, who it said had considered the collateral consequences on the paying Disco customers.
"These suspended and disconnected defaulting market participants will be reconnected to the NATIONAL GRId at the instance of the honourable minister of power. The intervention has automatically prolonged the grace period to 60 days from this publication.
"All market defaulters should comply with the provisions of the market rules with respect to payment of their outstanding invoices, posting of adequate bank guarantees and forwarding of their active Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) as the case may be, to the market operator/TCN.
"It should be noted that other defaulters who are yet to be suspended/disconnected should cure their defaults within these 60 days. At the expiration of this grace period, the Aerator will resume sanctions in line with the market rules.
"The MO/TCN is hereby urging the erring Discos to seize this opportunity to fix their defaults as we applaud the intervention of the minister of power," Head of MO, TCN, Dr Edmund Eje stated.
