MEANING OF 59 LEGAL TERMS IN NIGERIAN ELECTRICITY LAW

The Electricity Power SectorReform Act (EPSRA) Cap E7 LFN 2005 was passed into law by the National Assemblyin 2004 but was signed into law by President Olusegun Obasanjo on the 11^thMarch, 2005. Below are the statutory interpretation of 59 terms used in the Act[1]:

 

1.       "affiliate" in relationto a licensee means any holding company or subsidiary of the licensee or anysubsidiary of a holding company of a licensee, and, unless the Commissiondecides to the contrary, subsidiary status shall be presumed to arise from theownership of or the power to vote, directly or indirectly, ten percent or moreof the voting securities of such entity and holding status shall be determinedaccordingly;

2.       "ancillary services" means thosefunctions necessary for reliable operation of a power system, which mayinclude, but are not limited to, services that would provide or permit thefollowing:

(a) facilities scheduling, control and dispatch;

(b) reactive power and voltage: control ;

(c) frequency regulation;

(d) operating reserves; and

(e) black start ;

3.        "Authority" means the National Electric Power Authorityestablished pursuant to the National Electric Power Authority Act;

4.        "Bureau of Public Enterprises" means the Bureau of Public Enterprises established pursuant to thePublic Enterprises (Privatisation and Commercialisation Act);

5.        "captive generation" meansgeneration of electricity for the purpose of consumption by the generator andwhich is consumed by the generator itself and not sold to a third party ;

6.        "Code of Conduct" means anyrules established by the Commission governing behaviour, relationships, andpractices between licensees and their affiliates;

7.        "Commission" means the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission established underPart III of this Act;

8.        "Companies and Allied Matters Act" means the Companies and Allied Matters Act Cap. 59LFN 1990, as amended;

9.        "Competition Transition Charge" means any charge established under section 29 ofthis Act ;

10.     "consumer" means any end-user ofelectricity who is a customer of a distribution licensee that is not aneligible customer and, for purposes of filing a complaint with the Commissionand for any other reason that the Commission may determine, a person who istemporarily disconnected or otherwise without service, provided that a personwho has applied for, but has yet to receive, service shall also be deemed to bea consumer;

11.     "control area" means a transmission system or interconnected transmission systems, andinterconnected generating units, bounded by metering and telemetry equipmentthat permits a system operator to apply a generation control scheme in orderto:

a) match the electrical output of the generating stations within thecontrol area and energy purchased from entities outside the control area, lessenergy sold to entities outside the control area, with the load within thecontrol area ;

(b) maintain scheduled interchange with other control areas, within thelimits of good utility practice ;

(c) maintain the frequency of the control area's electric power systemswithin reasonable limits in accordance with good utility practice;

(d) maintain power flows on transmission facilities within appropriatelimits to preserve reliability; and

(e) provide sufficient generating capacity to maintain operatingreserves in accordance with good utility practice ;

12.     "cross subsidies" means the subsidisation of one class or group of consumers by anotherclass or group of consumers;

13.     "distribution" means thedelivery of electricity over a distribution system;

14.     "distribution licence" means a licence granted pursuant to section 67 ;

15.     "distribution system" means the system of facilities, as defined by the Commission, consistingwholly or mainly of low voltage (less than 132kV) electric lines used for thedistribution of electricity from grid supply points to the point of delivery toconsumers or eligible customers, and includes any electrical plant and metersoperated in connection with the distribution of electricity, but shall notinclude any part of a transmission system;

16.     "Electricity Act" means theElectricity Act Cap. 106 LFN 1990, as amended;

17.     "eligible customer" means acustomer that is eligible, pursuant to a directive or directives issued by theMinister under section 27, to purchase power from a licensee other than adistribution licensee ;

18.     "generation" means theproduction at a generating station of electric power and other generationproducts such as, but not limited to, reactive power ;

19.     "generation licence" means a licence issued under section 64 ;

20.     "generating station" means a station for generating electricity, including buildings, plantand machinery and all accessories used for that purpose and the site to be usedfor the station or accessories ;

21.     "Grid Code" means instructions, rules, procedures, guidelines, etc. for theoperation and planning of an interconnected power system and accountingrequirements relating thereto ;

22.     "independent power producer" means anentity that is granted a generation licence under section 64 (3) (b);

23.     "independent system operator" means a system operator that, under section 26 (7),is not affiliated with an entity holding a transmission licence;

24.     "initial holding company" means thecompany formed under section 1 ;

25.     "initial transfer date" means thedate fixed by the National Council on Privatisation under section 3 (1) ;

26.     "land" means land, tenements, hereditaments and appurtenances, or any estate orinterest therein ;

27.     "licence" means a licence issued by the Commission under Part IV of this Act;

28.     "licensee" means any person who holds alicence issued under Part IV of this Act;

29.     "lifeline tariff'' means atariff set by the Commission with prices that, incorporate cross subsidies byother customers and which may be enjoyed by such group of consumers as theCommission may designate under section 76 (5);

30.     "local authority" means a local government, municipal council, town council, ruraldistrict council or local board;

31.     "market power" means theability of a seller or group of sellers to maintain prices above competitivelevels, or to maintain stable prices while reducing the quality of product orservice provided, for a significant period of time;

32.     "market rules" means rulesapproved under section 26 (2) ;

33.     "Land Use Act" means theLand Use Act Cap. 202 LFN 1990, as amended;

34.     "Minister" means the Honourable Minister of Power and Steel, or any other Ministerto whom the President may from time to time assign administrative functions inrespect of this Act ;

35.     "National Council on Privatisation" means the Council established under section 8 of the Public Enterprises(Privatisation and Commercialisation) Act;

36.     "National Electric Power Authority Act" means the National Electric Power Authority Act Cap. 256 LFN 1990, asamended;

37.     "person" includes an individual, company, partnership or any other association ofindividuals, whether incorporated or not;

38.     "Power Consumer Assistance Fund" means the fund established under Part VIII of thisAct ;

39.     "Public Enterprises (Privatisation and Commercialisation) Act" means the Public Enterprises (Privatisation andCommercialisation) Act;

40.     "relative" means spouse, child, parent, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, in-laws,cousins, and, where applicable, their spouses;

41.     "securities" means shares, debentures, bonds and other securities of a company ;

42.     "six geo-political zones" for thetime being means North Central (consisting of Benue State, Nassarawa State,Niger State, Kogi State, Plateau State, Kwara State, FCT); North East(consisting of Bauchi State, Borno State, Gombe State, Yobe State, AdamawaState and Taraba State), North West (consisting of Kano state, Kaduna State,Katsina State, Jigawa State, Kebbi State, Sokoto State, Zamfara State),South-South (consisting of Delta State, Edo State, Rivers State, Akwa IbomState, Cross River State, Bayelsa State ); South East (consisting of AnambraState, Abia State, Enugu State, Ebonyi State, Imo State), South West(consisting of Lagos State, Oyo State, Ogun State, Osun State, Ondo State,Ekiti State) under section 34 (3) of this Act;

43.     "Stamp Duties Act" means the Stamp Duties Act Cap. 411 LFN, 1990, as amended;

44.     "street" means any street, highway, or road, or any part of a street, highway orroad, and includes:

(a) any bridge, ferry or pontoon over which such street, highway or roadpasses ;

(b) any drift in the line of such street, highway or road;

(c) any approach, culvert, cutting, dam, ditch, drain, embankment,fence, grid, guard, kerb, parapet, subway or other work or thing belonging toor connected with or forming part of such street, highway or road; and

(d) any sanitary lane or private street;

45.     "successor company" means asuccessor company, formed pursuant to section 8 of this Act, to take overdesignated functions of the initial holding company;

46.     "successor generating company" means the successor company that is granted a generation licence undersection 64 (3) ;

47.     "system operation" means the operation of one or more transmission systems and

48.     "system operator" shall be construed accordingly;

49.     "system operation licence" means a licence granted under section 66 ;

50.     "tariff" means a tariff approved by the Commission pursuant to Part IV of thisAct that specifies the prices, terms and conditions under which electricityservice is to be provided ;

51.     "temporary bulk purchase and resale licence" means a licence issued under section 68 (2) ;

52.     "trading" means any form of marketing, brokering or intermediation in the sale ofelectricity, whether or not it entails the purchase of electricity for resale,or whether or not title is taken to the electricity sold;

53.     "trading license" means a license issued pursuant to section 67 ;

54.     "transfer order" means an order issued by the National Council on Privatisation pursuantto section 10 (1) of this Act;

55.     "transferee" means a person to whom employees, assets, liabilities, rights andobligations are transferred by a transfer order;

56.     "transmission" means the conveyance of electric power and energy over a transmissionsystem ;

57.     "transmission licence" means alicence issued under section 65 ;

58.     "transmission system" means a system, as defined by the Commission, consisting wholly ormainly of high voltage (greater than or equal to 132kV) electric lines for theconveyance of electricity within an undertaking or from one undertaking toanother, including any transmission lines, transformers, switchgear and otherworks necessary for and used in connection with such electrical equipment, andthe buildings as may be required to accommodate the transformers, switchgearand other works; and

59.     "undertaking" means any undertaking which generates transmits, distributes or supplieselectricity, with all the assets and liabilities appertaining thereto.

MEANING OF 59 LEGAL TERMS IN NIGERIAN ELECTRICITY LAW is a legal illumination of AKINTUNDE ESAN known as The LEGAL ADVISER ONLINE. Akintunde Esan is the Managing Partner & Principal Consultant @ ASE OLODUMARE CHAMBERS (Legal Practitioners/Consultants & Chartered Mediators)

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ELECTRICITY REGULATIONS , RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS IN NIGERIA

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[1]See Section 100 of the Act