Politically speaking, the two most critical variables in the power sector are the technical and commercial/economic variables that must be enhanced if the sector must develop because the situation is akin to the chicken and egg relationship as the power sector cannot grow and develop if the technical and commercial issues are not jointly addressed. With this understanding, it is a bit worrisome that government seems to be more interested in tackling the commercial/economic issues while not paying commensurate attention to the technical variable.


This observation arises from the recent hike in the prices of meters via a released order number NERC/2023/020 by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission with a single-phase meter now to cost N81,975.16k from the former price of N58,661.69k while a three-phase meter will now cost N143,836.10k as against N109,684.36k and effective from September 6th, 2023.


It can be argued that equal attention has been paid to technical issues affecting the sector as can be verified with the numerous ongoing rehabilitation and expansion projects, especially under the Presidential Power Initiative (PPI) of the immediate past administration of President Muhammadu Buhari but the present administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu should not create the impression that it is only after revenue generation from every possible source.


This advice is germane because ordinarily, it is the service provider that should provide the means of measurement, which is the sole function of a meter. In our local markets, it is the duty of the seller to provide measuring device used to determine the value enjoyed and to be paid for by the buyer. Even in sophisticated environments like hotels, petrol stations, supermarkets etc, it is the responsibility of the service provider to provide the means of measurement. The only argument electricity consumers are compelled to pay for the means of measuring their consumption is because of the low level of investment in the electricity market in Nigeria. 

  
Additionally, the availability and accessibility of Nigerians to electricity is still very low as a result of the current available generation capacity of 12,500MW, which is paltry and other technical challenges affecting the sector. In addition to this limitation, the available power is very unstable because existing infrastructure are old and fragile, requiring urgent upgrade/rehabilitation.


Another reason is that government should be mindful of the fact that electricity users who can afford it are rapidly migrating away from public power supply to alternative sources for their domestic and commercial electricity needs due to the unstable nature of the public power supply. Most customers place public power supply on standby, which translates to revenue loss to the market.


In the interim, government at both federal and states levels should endeavor to attract investible funds into the sector to improve the quality of service while minimizing every financial burden on the customer for now so as to make the service more available and accessible to Nigerians before introducing frivolous and unnecessary price hike.


There is no doubt that the electricity sector in Nigeria is still very “green” and underdeveloped and if the government get its acts right by paying attention to both the technical and commercial variables in its attempt to fix the sector, it will yield positive results to the government and the people.