PUBLIC-PRIVATE DIALOGUE ON ENERGY IN EDO STATE

Date: 22^nd -23^rd February 2024;  Time: 9:30am

Context

Edo State had previously created its electricity law in 2022 ahead of the national electricity law in 2023 which was driving the state’s electricity initiatives. This public-private dialogue was focused on getting the right framework for the state electricity law. Aligning it with the provision of the national electricity enables the state plug into new frontiers in the sector hence improving access to electricity for Micro, Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (MSMEs). Participation ranged from:

• Public sector (MDAs)
• Private sector (BMOs)
• Private sector (Energy Companies)
• Private sector (Owners of Businesses)

 Recommendations from the session

A few recommendations from stakeholders on the coverage of the law includes:

• Considerations for coverage of industrial clusters in driving commercialisation
• Regulation coverage for renewable energy services
• Role definition of the Edo State Electricity Regulatory Commission (transactional function- interphase with private sector (alongside ESIPO) in driving investment framework and participation; and technical function- understanding the energy requirement and setting the state’s energy sector roadmap.
• Role definition of the Edo State Ministry of Mining and Energy as a policy driver for the sector
• Need for a state electricity strategic plan informed by the state’s energy requirements, opportunities and expansions.
• Need for consideration on underlying issues that affect tariff such as:
  • Subsidy,
  • Energy theft
  • Inflation rate
  • Foreign exchange rate
  • Cost of fuel (gas prices)
  • New technologies
• Consideration on establishing a state electricity taskforce through the existing small claims court (scope of coverage of the small claims court needs to be consider)
• Consideration for environmental and right-of-way issues into the law to cover energy players and assets that are not within the state’s regulatory framework- TCN and Azura (great opportunities here for the state)
• Consideration for coverage for cooperative model in communities in driving local competition (there are more than 28 registered communities actively operating this model in Edo State)
• Considerations for gas supply value chain in improving the quality of existing energy services by independent power plants.
• Other areas of state electricity regulatory commission coverage include:
  • Off grid gencos and State based IPPs
  • Successor discos- intrastate operations
  • Captive IPPs
  • New entrant discos within state
  • Rural electrification
  • Mini-grid, franchising, IEDN regulations
  • Regulatory environments- service standards
  • State tariff framework (align with the national framework)
  • Customer protection

Next Steps

• A legal drafting session with EoDB secretariate, members of Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Finance in amending the law with the recommendations from the PPD session.
• Validation session with broad spectrum of stakeholders in driving ownership and participation, communicating opportunities to investors and sharing benefits to MSMEs hence improving the business enabling environment in the state.
• Passage of the new electricity law.
• Restructuring of the state’s electricity regulatory commission.
• The State Electricity Commission and the EoDB secretariate are to carry out an energy audit for the state.
• The State Electricity Commission and the EoDB secretariate are to develop a state energy sector roadmap which will inform opportunities for private sector investments.

Written By: Osahon Okoh