States Can’t Generate Power – Lawmaker

The Chairman, House Committee on Power, Patrick Ikhariale, has expressed pessimism over the ability of states to generate power through investment in the energy sector.

Ikhariale, who was reacting to a report that the 36 state governments would be given statutory rights to generate and distribute power as from January 2012, told The Tide that this was, however, a good development.

The legislator, who spoke in Ibadan commended Lagos and Rivers States which had invested in energy projects adding that some states were already generating and contributing to the national grid.

Ikhariale said if other states had the financial muscle like Lagos and Rivers, they would not have problems in investing in the energy sector.

“It is not those state governments that are finding it difficult to pay salaries of workers now that will want to spread their hands over and above their capacity. Otherwise, it will amount to being penny-wise and pound-foolish,’’ he said.

Ikhariale, however, urged states interested in the power sector to do their home work before getting involved because of the huge financial commitment, adding that it would cost billions of naira to generate just one megawatt of electricity.

“The power business must be left to those who have the financial muscle to do what they want to do; those who have the knowledge, commitment and sense of purpose. It must not be for the fun of it. It must not be for political gains. It must not be for mere political sloganeering or media hype of some sort,’’ he said.

Ikhariale noted that his committee would be willing to access the details of state governments interested in the energy sector to see how far they meant business, as well as consider how to encourage them and warned that there was no room for cutting corners in the energy sector.

“You can not generate 10 megawatts and expect the reward of somebody that is generating 200 megawatts. So, it is not a tea party,” Ikhariale said.

The Chairman of the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission(NERC), Dr Sam Amadi, had in Abuja announced that states would be allowed to generate power from January 2012.

Amadi said it would become a reality when the commission’s new set of regulations on Independent Electricity Distribution Network Operators and Power Generators become operational.

Although power is presently on the concurrent list, the Federal government has the exclusive right of power generation and distribution for commercial purposes, except for some companies which NERC licensed to produce limited power for their industrial applications.