The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) today scrutinized the management of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) over its handling of the nationwide outages and system inefficiencies.

 The NERC at the public hearing organized in Abuja to unravel factors responsible for the incessant grid collapse raised concerns about TCN’s outdated infrastructure, including decades-old transformers, and its failure to adopt modern maintenance software.

 NERC’s panel led by the Chairman of the commission, Engr. Sanusi Garba; and other members also questioned TCN’s financial prioritization, asking why new transformers were being purchased while existing ones were not adequately maintained.

TCN representatives, Engineer Nafisat Ali, acknowledged the challenges, citing the absence of automated systems to monitor and manage inventory, maintenance schedules, and overall network health.

 Meanwhile, Association of Power Generation Companies (APGC) has decried the issue of frequent grid collapses in the country, noting that from 2013 to date, there have been 162 such incidents.

 Speaking at a public consultation organized by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) on power system disturbances, the CEO of the Association of Power Generation Companies (APGC), Joy Ogaji, expressed concerns about the inconsistencies in the data recorded by different stakeholders.

 In response to accusations that generation companies (Gencos) contribute to grid instability; Ogaji underscored the importance of clarity as TCN is incharge of systems operations. She called for urgent measures to address these technical issues to ensure a more reliable power supply.