Expectations from the Newly Inaugurated Board of Abia State Electricity Regulatory Authority (ASERA)

Written by Divine Nwankwo

In a very strategic move to solve power problem in Abia state and provide the much needed enabling environment for businesses, industrialists, entrepreneurs and artisans, the visionary Governor of Abia state, Dr. Alex Chioma Otti recently inaugurated the board of the Abia State Electricity Regulatory Authority (ASERA).

The  establishment of the Abia State Electricity Regulatory Authority (ASERA) is necessitated because of the need for the state to have an independent electric power.

The law establishing it acts as a catalyst to achieve the goal of the Governor, which is to provide access to electricity to both the unserved and the underserved Abians which will help maintain efficiency and create a welcoming environment for investors.

ASERA is part of the full value chain, from generation to transmission to distribution. And it is equally aimed at prompting industrialization as it is a known fact, that our people are gifted and entrepreneuring and are only looking for social infrastructure such as power to aid their businesses .

This crucial move of the industrial revolution driven Governor commenced last year as he proposed and sent an executive bill to the Abia State House of Assembly to enable the state establish, own, generate, regulate transmission, and distribution of electricity power for the further development and economic growth of the state.

Of course, our smart, pragmatic and calculative Governor, Dr. Alex Otti OFR, leveraged the federal government’s 2023 Electricity Act which empowers states to take control of their power needs to come up with this framework

Having secured approval and the needed legislation from the legislative arm of the state, Dr. Alex Otti assented to the bill making it a law and went ahead to appoint members of the board from across experts residing in different parts of the world.

The law among other things would protect the investments already made by Aba Power and give government the authority to regulate generation, transmission and distribution of power and would stand the test of time, safeguarding both current and future investors in the energy sector.

Inaugurating the five man board of the Abia State Electricity Regulatory Agency (ASERA), Governor Alex Otti among other things, charged the members to complete the negotiations with the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC) and acquire the Umuahia ringed-fence of EEDC.

This is imperative given the fact that Governor Otti had already secured steady power for Aba and its environs including, Aba South, Aba North, Osisioma, Obingwa, Ugwunagbo, Ukwa East, Ukwa West, Isiala Ngwa North and Isiala Ngwa South, through the Geometric Power and desires to extend the gesture to the remaining Local Government Areas in the state.

It could be recalled that the dream and efforts of Professor Bath Nnaji to power Aba and its environs with Geometric Power, ensuring steady power, remained on the drawing board for about 20 years until the emergence of the game changer of our time and the man of the moment, Dr. Alex Chioma Otti OFR, who ensured that the Geometric Power came on stream.

In specific terms, Governor Otti stated, thus, “We are at the final stages of negotiations with EEDC, the idea for us is to acquire the Umuahia ringed-fence and that includes Umuahia North, Umuahia South, Ikwuano, Bende, Ohafia, Isuikwuato, Umunneochi and Arochukwu.

“So, we are almost done and by the time negotiations are completed, payment would be made and we will pull Umuahia out of EEDC.”

So, the task of pulling Umuahia and other LGAs not covered by the Aba ringed-fenced from the EEDC is workable. This according to the Governor is because, the original agreement with Geometric before the amendment of the law, was that any excess capacity would be sent to the national grid.

But that plan right now, has changed, because Geometric has a stored capacity of 188 megawatts of energy even though they have three turbines with the capacity of 141 megawatts and the fourth turbine should be on the way any moment from now.

It is established that at maximum load, the Aba ringed-fence should not require more than a 100 megawatts. So with this, there is a balance of 88 megawatts. Governor Otti’s government now proposes that the balance of the megawatts be wheeled into Umuahia rather than sending it to the national grid. The argument is that if we have 88 megawatts, at least we can guarantee steady supply of power.

Against the backdrop of the burning desire of the Governor to provide steady and affordable power for the people of the state, it is therefore incumbent on the board members to take the bull by the horn and deliver on their mandate

Truly, with the belief of Governor Otti that industrialization cannot happen without power and electricity being central to his agenda, the expectations of the board of the Abia State Electricity Regulatory Authority is rife.

With the understanding that the members of the board were selected on merit, after passing through rigorous processes that led to interviews before the final selection, the board made up of Mr Onyegbule Emeka, Mr Ikowu Ukwu, Engr. Iheanyi Ine Eze,  Onwuegbule Kareem Eberechukwu and Dr. Joy Oti are expected to swing into action immediately and bring their wealth of experience to bear in the discharge of their duties.

They should know that Abia people and residents are already poised to begin to benefit from the electricity policy of the Governor which is aimed at boosting the economy of the state. It is equally expected  that they would institute a robust customer relations system and deliver good services that is devoid of fraudulent activities, poor services, cutthroats estimated billing among other vices that have been the bane of electricity service management in Nigeria.

Divine Nwankwo is the HOD Information at Government House Umuahia.