IBEDC kicks as steel company dumps Disco

The Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company is protesting Phoenix Steel Mills Limited’s decision to dump it and adopt the eligible customer status. Eligible electricity customers are those permitted to buy power directly from electricity generation licensees instead of the distribution companies. Our correspondent learned that Phoenix Steel Mills left the Ibadan Disco this year and was granted permission to buy electricity directly from a generation company by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission.

Dissatisfied, the IBEDC petitioned the NERC, stating that the steel company had left its distribution network to become an eligible customer without fulfilling all due process. The Disco told the regulator that it erred in granting the eligibility status to Phoenix Steel as it did not provide due notice for opting out of the network to be connected directly to energy sourced from a Genco. According to a statement on the NERC website, the two parties appeared before its panel recently.



Related News Ondo family tackles IBEDC over employee’s electrocution IBEDC pledges faster fault resolution in Oyo, Ogun IBEDC boosts community engagement with 18,000 interactions The NERC said it heard the IBEDC against Phoenix Steel Mills for its eligible customer status. The regulator confirmed that it granted Phoenix Steel Mills the eligible customer status this year. The IBEDC also joined the Transmission Company of Nigeria, which transmits bulk energy from the generation company to the eligible customer in the petition.

However, the counsel to Phoenix Steel insisted that they had fulfilled all conditionalities while applying to NERC to be granted the eligible customer status. Chairman of the Petition Hearing Panel and NERC Vice Chairman, Dr Musiliu Oseni, was said to have provided an avenue for a fair hearing for all the parties involved, including the representatives of TCN. “After the hearing, Oseni said NERC will review the submissions and make a ruling which will be conveyed to all parties in the matter,” the NERC stated.

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