MONROVIA – The provision and expansion of electric power across the country has, like rice, become a “political exercise” in recent years, as outages have begun reasons for spirited discussions amongst citizens even the ordinary people, and the electricity issue more often than not placed on the ballot in times of elections. Thus, the new team appointed to head the Liberia Electricity Regulatory Commission headed by Lawerence D. Sekajipo, the Chairman of the Board, is not taking kindly how electricity services sourced out to private companies are being provided. Yesterday, June 19, 2024, the Board released a statement in which it spoke to a number of policy issues and actions, including reporting on its spot-check-assessment visits to areas controlled by one of its service providers, Libernergy, Inc., a Joint Venture Company catering to the South East. Having found a number of unpleasant issues during the visit, the Commission is asking the company to take the appropriate actions. The Analyst reports.
The Liberia Electricity Commission (LERC) has mandated the joint venture company, LIBENERGY, Inc. which is contracted by the Liberian government to provide electricity to a couple of rural provinces to present to the Commission a comprehensive “smart plan” within 10 working days on how it will address technical issues and recommendations contained in the report of technical inspection conducted by the Commission.
In a statement released June 19, the LERC has denied LIBENERGY’s request for an extension of the end-user tariff application and directed it to submit to the Commission all requested documentation for the commencement of the tariff application process by the end of 31 July 2024.
The Commission has also asked LIBENERGY to immediately begin the metering of customers within its service areas.
“Failure to meter customers is a violation of the Customer Service and Quality of Supply Regulations, which mandates that a customer cannot be unmetered for more than six months,” he LERC said, adding that joint venture electricity provision company should also restore power to the Deanna Kay Isaacson School of Midwifery in Zwedru City, Grand Gedeh.
The mandates by the LERC were splashed at the company comes out as a result of a “Technical Regulations Directorate” and inspection conducted in April and May 2024, on LIBENERGY’s electricity distribution services being carried out in Tappita, Nimba County, Grand Gedeh, River Gee and Maryland counties.
The inspection, according the Commission, was carried conducted in other to identify obvious structural problems and hazards such as leaning power poles, damaged equipment enclosures, and vandalism; work with licensed service provider in the development of a compliance Plan to cure problems identified during the inspection; ensure that appropriate follow-up and corrective action is taken regarding problems identified during the inspection, and to ensure it maintains its distribution network in accordance with acceptable utility practice and performance standards to ensure reliability and quality of electricity service, on both a short-term and long-term basis.
The following the inspecting, key issues were identified by the LERC as lapses on the party of the LIBENERGY.
According to the LERC, the inspectors discovered huge vegetation under existing 33kV medium voltage lines; lack of protection of transformers and provision of safe means of isolation for maintenance and operations; damaged lightning arresters, and bypassed fuses; lack of light poles, spare parts and materials for construction of low voltage distribution network and the lack of auto reclosers on the 33kV medium voltage lines.
The Commission also found that energy accounting is not prioritized and executed with transparency, and there were damaged transformers and amongst others.
It can be recalled, in December 2023, the LERC licensed LIBERNERGY, Inc. a Joint Venture company contracted by the Liberia Electricity Corporation (LEC) to distribute electricity being supplied to south-eastern Liberia power from Cote d’Ivoire.
The Commission says as part of the licensing requirements, LIBENERGY INC, was required to comply with the terms and conditions of its license. As a follow up these terms and conditions, an inspection was required.
The Commission says it has provided copies of the inspection report to LIBENERGY to at once address these concerns.
LEC tariff schedule
The Commission used its statement to indicate that in keeping with the 2015 Electricity Law of Liberia, the Board of Commission in May 2021 approved the Electricity Tariff Regulations and the Multi Year Tariff Methodology.
The Electricity Tariff Regulations and the Multi Year Tariff Methodology provide the framework for approving all tariffs through elaborate principles, methodology, process and other terms of supply of electricity within the electricity sector.
In December 2021, the Board also approved new rates and charges for five categories of customers within the LEC network and the new rates and charges came into effect on 1 January 2022.
This was the first time in the history of the electricity sector of Liberia for the cost of electricity to be decided through a process that considered all the parameters in the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity, LERC said.
“The five categories of customers announced were Social Customers, Prepaid Residential customers, Postpaid Residential customers, Prepaid Non-residential Customers, Postpaid Commercial customers and Medium Voltage customers,” it asserted further, adding the current tariffs include social Customers – US$0.15 per Kilowatt-hour (no fixed charge); prepaid Residential Customers tariff is set at US$0.24 per Kilowatt-hour with a monthly fixed charge of $2.48; postpaid Residential Customers tariff is set at US$0.24 per Kilowatt-hour and monthly fixed charge of $4.47; prepaid Non-residential Customers tariff is set at US$0.22 per Kilowatt-hour and monthly fixed charge of US$10.00.
Others included postpaid Commercial Customers tariff is set at US$0.22 per Kilowatt-hour and monthly fixed charge of US$12.00 and medium Voltage Customers tariff is set at US$0.19 per Kilowatt-hour and monthly fixed charge of US$50.00.
The tariffs and charges, the Commission said, were duly approved by the Commission, and they have been paid by customers in the various categories since January 1, 2022.
“The Commission would like to re-emphasize that the fixed charges are intended to cover portions of LEC’s fixed cost of operations and facilitate expansion of the network to unserved and underserved communities in LEC’s operational areas,” said the LERC. “Fixed charges collected thus far by LEC have been used by LEC to extend electricity to 13 gap communities in Monrovia and reinforce the low voltage and medium voltage networks, including the installation of transformers, poles and streetlights. This has significantly contributed to the provision of electricity to gap communities, which are usually outside of areas covered by donor funded electrification projects.”
The Commission’s tariff regulation and multi-year tariff methodology require that tariffs approved by the Commission remain valid for three years. That means, the approved tariffs currently paid by customers will expire on December 31, 2024.
In adherence to the regulations, the Commission said it would embark on a tariff review for LEC in the coming months to be able to set up and approve new price level for electricity for customers connected to the LEC grid.
That exercise will review all the cost drivers, assess the efficiency of those costs and incorporate emerging economic parameters in determining the tariff.
Also, the Commission has begun the tariff determination process for Jungle Energy Power, Incorporated (JEP) for its distribution areas in Nimba and Bong Counties.
The goal of this process, like that of the LEC process, is to ensure that the prices charged by JEP Inc. to customers connected to its distribution network in Nimba and Bong counties are cost reflective and ensure continuous improvements of the network to ensure stable supply of electricity.
JEP Inc. is following the Commission in providing information we have requested. The Commission will provide updates to the public when that process is complete, and a new tariff is decided and approved by the Commission.