{"id":3295,"date":"2023-07-12T10:10:32","date_gmt":"2023-07-12T10:10:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/placng.org\/Legist\/?p=3295"},"modified":"2023-07-12T10:40:14","modified_gmt":"2023-07-12T10:40:14","slug":"electricity-act-constitution-alteration-aim-to-improve-power-sector","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/placng.org\/Legist\/electricity-act-constitution-alteration-aim-to-improve-power-sector\/","title":{"rendered":"Electricity Act, Constitution Alteration Aim to Improve Power Sector"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Electricity Act 2023 signed into law by President Bola Tinubu on June 5, 2023, repeals the Electric Power Sector Reform Act of 2005 and provides a guide for the post-privatisation phase of Nigeria\u2019s electricity industry. It demonopolises the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity at the national level and provides a framework for States, companies and individuals to become stakeholders in carrying out these functions. Among other things, the Electricity Act mandates the Ministry of Power in consultation with relevant government authorities and stakeholders to develop an\u00a0Integrated Electricity Policy and Strategic Implementation Plan.\u00a0The objective of this policy plan is to guide the overall development of the Nigerian power sector and address policy gaps. The Electricity Act also provides a legal framework for the development and utilisation of renewable energy. Therefore, the policy plan is expected to incorporate policies such as waivers and subsidies to stimulate the development of renewable energy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nAct addresses infractions in the electricity sector by introducing penalties\nsuch as prison terms and fines for electricity\ntheft,\nbypass of metres, theft of electrical lines and materials, disruption of power\nsupply, damage to public streetlights, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Notably,\nthe Electricity Act recognises the powers of State Houses of Assembly to make\nlaws for the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity, as well\nas oversee electricity system operations within their States. Specifically, it\nempowers States to issue licences to operate mini grids and power plants within\ntheir respective jurisdictions and to provide legal frameworks for these\noperations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

PLAC had provided an analysis of the provisions of the Electricity Act<\/a> (then Electricity Bill 2022) in a previous edition of LEGIST. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

See Electricity Act 2023 here<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The provisions of the Electricity Act that empower States to legislate on and regulate electricity complement the recent Constitution alteration<\/a>\u00a0which expanded the power of States in the Concurrent Legislative List to make laws on electric power. The alteration expands the power of State Houses of Assembly to make laws for the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity to areas covered by the national grid system within their respective States. Formerly, this provision restricted the jurisdiction of States to legislate on electric power to areas not<\/strong> covered by the national grid system. This restriction has now been removed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nexpansion of  the power of States to\nlegislate on electricity and the provisions of the Electricity Act introducing\nother players into the power sector would go a long way in demonopolising and\nimproving the power sector, as the pressure on the national grid will be\nreduced. It\nwould also potentially attract investors to the sector and hopefully put an end\nto the incessant challenges associated with\nelectricity\nin Nigeria. Other expected benefits include market competition which would\nbenefit consumers in terms of options and pricing, investments in energy mixes\nand alternative sources of energy, improved private sector participation and\nincreased revenue for States. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It should be noted that the Federal\nGovernment\u2019s power to legislate on generation and transmission of electricity\nin any part of the country and manage the national grid system remains, and\nthat each State would have to make or amend its State electricity law\nto operationalise the recent Constitution alteration\non the subject. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Electricity Act 2023 signed into law by President Bola Tinubu on June 5, 2023, repeals the Electric Power Sector Reform Act of 2005 and provides a guide for the post-privatisation phase of Nigeria\u2019s electricity industry. It demonopolises the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity at the national level and provides a framework for States, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2826,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3295","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/placng.org\/Legist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3295","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/placng.org\/Legist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/placng.org\/Legist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/placng.org\/Legist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/placng.org\/Legist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3295"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/placng.org\/Legist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3295\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3304,"href":"https:\/\/placng.org\/Legist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3295\/revisions\/3304"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/placng.org\/Legist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2826"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/placng.org\/Legist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3295"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/placng.org\/Legist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3295"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/placng.org\/Legist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3295"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}