Abia Commissioner for Power and Public Utility, Ikechukwu Monday, has said that the Abia State Electricity Bill, when passed, will create an electricity market that is robust, competitive and performance based.
Monday, who spoke to House of Assembly correspondents in Umuahia, after the public hearing on the bill on Wednesday, said that the Electricity Act, 2023, gave mandate for states to develop their electricity market.
The key features of the Executive bill include: Abia State Electricity Regulatory Authority, Rural Electrification Agency and Abia State Electricity Fund.
According to Monday, Abia wants to develop her own market based on the vision of Gov. Alex Otti to make the state, especially Aba as the number one industrial hub in sub-Saharan Africa.
The commissioner expressed optimism that the bill would be passed into law, after the stakeholders engagement and the memoranda that were submitted during the public hearing.
The commissioner said that the bill was meticulously drafted by professionals in the field across the globe, with inputs from both the consumers and operators in the industry.
Monday said that there are several ways the state could generate power, but explained that the government’s goal was to allow the private sector to drive it.
“So what this bill will do is to open up the market and allow the private sector to come in.
“We are looking at different sources of energy, considering that Abia is blessed with oil and gas, enough sunshine, different waters and streams that we can even harness the hydro potential in the energy mix,” he said.
Monday insisted that the bill would not only enable more generation and supply of power within Abia, but also its supply to the entire South-East states.
Also, Mr Aaron Uzodike, the Chairman, House Committee on Power, Public Utility and Water Resources, said that the bill if passed into law, would create tremendous developments for the state.
Uzodike, who described Abia as a serious industrial area, expressed confidence that the bill would be passed into law, “because industrialisation may not be achieved without electricity.”
He said: “This bill seeks to empower the state to create its own electricity regulatory authority.
“It will also create rural electrification and funding for such electricity.
“It will also correct some of these anomalies we see at the national level, such as electricity theft, vandalisation, estimated billing and others.”
Uzodike, who is representing Aba North State Constituency, reiterated that it would create a competitive market, “but the state government has to provide the infrastructure.”(NAN)
