FG to Penalise Underperforming DisCos, GenCos — Tegbe

The Federal Government has announced plans to penalise underperforming electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos) and Generation Companies (GenCos) as part of efforts to improve accountability in Nigeria’s power sector.

The Minister of Power, Joseph Olasunkanmi Tegbe, disclosed this in a policy brief presented by his Special Adviser, Martins Olajide, at the NESG Industrialisation and Competitiveness Forum on Wednesday.

Tegbe said the ministry would introduce performance scorecards for power-sector staff, DisCos and GenCos, with rewards for excellence and penalties for poor performance.

He said the scorecards would set clear performance standards and strengthen accountability across the electricity value chain.

The minister also proposed tariff reforms to protect vulnerable consumers while ensuring operators meet their electricity supply obligations.

According to Tegbe, Nigeria has 13,625 megawatts (MW) of installed grid capacity, but average daily availability is only 4,854MW, leaving about 62 per cent of installed capacity idle despite peak demand of about 20,000MW.

“The power arithmetic does not add up,” Tegbe said.

He said the supply gap had driven increased reliance on self-generation, with Nigerians estimated to have spent N16.5 trillion on self-generated electricity in 2023, compared with about N1 trillion generated by the national grid.

Tegbe said improving operator performance, strengthening transmission infrastructure, reducing technical and commercial losses, expanding metering and optimising existing generation capacity would be critical to improving electricity supply.

The proposed performance scorecards are expected to establish clearer benchmarks for DisCos and GenCos and make their performance more transparent to consumers.