The Transmission Company of Nigeria has rejected Ikeja Electric’s claim that power outages on some of its feeders on November 3 and 4 were caused by grid instability, blaming the supply shortfall on reduced electricity generation.
In a statement issued on Friday, TCN described Ikeja Electric’s attribution of the outages to the national grid as inaccurate and misleading, insisting that the distribution company was responsible for some of the recorded interruptions .
The disagreement stems from a public notice Ikeja Electric published on November 5, in which it attributed several Band A feeder outages to “grid instability” and named TCN as the responsible party .
TCN said the Nigerian Independent System Operator had already explained that the decline in power generation resulted from gas supply constraints affecting thermal power stations and reduced output from hydroelectric plants due to lower reservoir inflows .
According to NISO, the reduced generation lowered the amount of electricity allocated to distribution companies, resulting in fewer hours of supply and increased load shedding across their networks .
TCN maintained that determining the causes of disturbances and interruptions on the national grid falls within NISO’s statutory responsibilities under Section 67 of the Electricity Act 2023, not those of distribution companies .
TCN presented records showing that 68 per cent of outages recorded on November 1 and 2 resulted from frequency-control load shedding caused by low generation .
It attributed another 26 per cent to Ikeja Electric’s failure to comply with load allocation directives issued by NISO’s National Control Centre, as well as faults and maintenance work on the distribution company’s network .
The remaining six per cent, according to TCN, resulted from its planned maintenance, switching operations or line limitations, adding that none of the recorded interruptions was caused by a fault or trip involving its equipment .
On the 46 interruptions recorded on the 33kV feeders listed in Ikeja Electric’s notice, TCN said 29 resulted from frequency-control load shedding, while 14 were linked to the distribution company. Nine of the 14 resulted from Ikeja Electric’s failure to comply with load allocation, while five were caused by faults or trips on its network. The remaining three were linked to scheduled TCN maintenance on the Ogba-Alimosho line on November 1 .
TCN accused Ikeja Electric of misrepresenting the causes of supply interruptions, warning that attributing generation-related shortfalls to transmission operations could mislead electricity consumers and undermine public confidence .
“Ikeja Electric’s position is therefore out of step with the true state of the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry,” TCN said, urging distribution companies to rely on verified information from NISO .
The transmission company said it sympathised with customers affected by reduced supply hours and remained committed to transmitting all available electricity safely and efficiently while working with NISO, generation companies and distribution companies to improve the situation .
The dispute is the latest in a series of public disagreements over the state of Nigeria’s power sector. In October, NISO had to clarify that multiple trippings on the 330kV transmission network affected only a section of the grid, not a nationwide collapse, after generation plunged from about 3,840MW to 477MW .
The current shortfall has been traced to a combination of gas supply constraints and lower water inflows into hydroelectric reservoirs. Data from NISO showed that distribution companies received a combined allocation of 2,926MW at one point, with Abuja Disco getting the highest share at 633MW and Yola the lowest at 74MW .
The Federal Ministry of Power has also weighed in, ruling out a systemic grid failure and saying the disruptions were linked to maintenance and operational issues alongside declining generation .
