Grid Collapse: NERC, Others Anticipate Public Hearing for Thursday

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has fixed Thursday, October 24 to conduct an investigative public hearing to address the incessant grid collapses in the country.

The commission said on Monday on its Twitter handle that the hearing would be held at its Hearing Room, Fourth Floor, Plot 1387, Cadastral Zone Central Business District, Abuja.

“All stakeholders including Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), and the general public are invited to the hearing.,’ the regulator said in a statement.

According to NERC, the agency is mandated to conduct public hearings on critical issues relating to the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI).

“In line with Section 48, subsection 1 of the Electricity Act 2023 (Amended), NERC is mandated to conduct public hearings on critical issues relating to NESI.

“The commission has noted with concern the recent escalating incidences of grid disturbances often leading to marked outages in several states.

“Thus reversing many of the gains recently achieved in reducing infrastructure deficit and improving grid stability,” it said.

Recall that Nigeria’s national grid collapsed for the third time in one week on Saturday, throwing over 90 per cent of the country into complete darkness.

Blackouts were reported in Lagos State, Ogun State, Oyo State, Kano State, Kaduna State and other parts of the country.

The national grid collapsed on Monday triggering a nationwide blackout as distribution companies (Discos) declared a lack of supply to their customers.

The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) also confirmed the development noting that the national grid experienced a partial disturbance, on Monday, October 14, 2024, at about 6:48 pm.

Hours after the first repair, it was once again declared that the grid had collapsed again, which experts confirmed to this newspaper was due to the infrastructure being unable to handle the load shared among electricity users in th country.