The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has warned that Nigeria’s emerging state electricity markets could struggle to attract investment if states adopt different regulatory frameworks, stressing the need for stronger cooperation among electricity regulators to protect consumers and provide certainty for investors.
The Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the FCCPC, Tunji Bello, gave the warning on Thursday at a stakeholders’ engagement on consumer protection and regulatory cooperation in Nigeria’s electricity sector in Abuja.
The meeting brought together officials of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), the Nigerian Electricity Management Services Agency (NEMSA) and several state electricity regulatory commissions following the decentralisation of electricity regulation under the Electricity Act 2023.
The electricity act, signed in 2023, ended decades of exclusive federal control of Nigeria’s electricity sector by empowering states to establish and regulate their own electricity markets once they meet constitutional and regulatory requirements. Since then, several states, including Lagos, Enugu, Plateau and Anambra, have established electricity regulatory commissions as part of efforts to improve electricity supply and attract private investment.
