MONROVIA: The Liberia Electricity Regulatory Commission (LERC) is expected to launch a regulatory database system for electricity users across the country on Wednesday, March 27, 2024.
The Managing Director of LERC, Augustus V. Goanue, made the disclosure on Monday, March 25, 2024 when spoke via the OK Morning Rush show on OK FM in Monrovia.
Mr. Goanue said the regulatory database system is intended to collect information, keep, and retrieve based on what is needed for informed decisions-making toward national development and progress.
“This is how it was done manually over the years. But what we are doing now, with support of the African Development Bank (AfDB) is that we are setting up this system which is automated.
According to him, the system will have three components: The regulator, operator (service provider), and consumer components.
He pointed out that those three aspects of the data regulator system will enable the LERC to interact with everyone and will be linked to LERC website, and mobile app where you will be able to communicate and collect information from consumers, service providers in terms of complaints, and everything and also LERC own internal processes,” he said.
The LERC Boss added that the system also promotes business activities for development.
“We are just automating our system to be more effective, efficient in reaching out to our different stakeholders,” he stressed.
Further speaking on the launch of the regulatory database system, he said the system has the customer, service provider and regulator portals.
So, if any consumer, or customers have a complaint, they don’t need to come to LERC Head offices and fill in a form as it was done in the past but, with the system, the customers can just use the mobile app or go to the website to place their complaint to the regulator and the regulator can receive the complaint instantly and begin to work on it, he stressed.
“You can complain online, right after the launch of this system. It has three components, the regulator for our own processes, customers aspect that you can log in your information and whatever complaint you have regardless of the category, we will know what complaint it is and the service provider aspect where LEC will be able to login and put in their information, and submit their quarterly report, data and whatever reports,” Mr. Goanue said.
Mr. Goanue mentioned that the LERC relies on important data to process lots of different things and come out with reports.
He stressed that the automated regulatory system will be effective in responding to different issues.
He highlighted that before a customer or consumer submits a complaint manually, it used to take five days for them to resolve the matter.
However, with the new system, the complaint will register straight into the system and the operator will receive it immediately but can’t act on it based on their regulation, as the complaint starts with the service provider.
Meanwhile, he revealed that when LERC started first, there was nothing on the books and they started to right the regulations.
“There was no regulatory instrument, with the 15 regulations instrument we have, nine regulation and six code. We started to roll them out and we realized that it was not okay so with the support of the African Development Bank they brought this automated database system,” he asserted.
Speaking on the launch of the program, he said Vice President Jeremiah Koung will be the keynote speaker and chief launcher of the program which would be held on Wednesday, 27th, March at the EJS Ministerial Complex.
“We have invited all stakeholders including the Minister of Mines and Energy, Ministry of Finance and Development Planning and all development partners. We will also be receiving guests from the AfDB and all those in the energy sector.
Our reginal regulator which would be represented by the ECOWAS Regional Electricity Regulatory Authority (ERERA) will be in attendance.
The launch is structured in such a way that it will comprise series of media engagements, and indoor program with statement coming from our partners.
We will have a live demonstration on this whole system on how it works,” he noted.
The LERC is an independent regulator of the electricity sector of Liberia which was established in 2015 by an act of the Legislation.
The key function is to regulate the sector and ensure that it is the referee between the consumers, service providers and operators.
The LERC do licenses and license operator as well as also set standards, approve tariff which is the amount you pay to the Liberia Electricity Corporation (LEC) to provide current.
“We also settle dispute between consumers and the regulators as well as the service providers and other activities in terms of code, standards and monitoring the system. For the purposes of regulation, we have four regulated entities in the country that are registered, licensed and have permit by the LERC,” Mr. Goanue said.
He continued “when we did our census in 2019 with the help of the deform NCAL we had close to 400 operators which are more informal (community current operators) but as LEC expands some of naturally disappear into thin air. We have jungle energy power in Nimba and Bong Counties and Lib Energy in Maryland, River Gee, Grand Gedeh and Tapita, Nimba Counties as well as Totota Electric Corporation. They are all Liberian own except for Lib that is join with a Liberian company. The law doesn’t band foreign company from operating in Liberia but you have to meet all of the requirements in term of business registration than you can now operate but there is no restriction for foreign company operation in the electricity market.
“We did a tariff which was approved in December 2021 and took effect in January 2022 that is the fixed charge. We have been on this and we ae expected to come out with a clear explanation to inform the public. The fix charge is onetime payment which US$2.48 cents which payment you make on a monthly basis. For instance, if you buy about four tokens in a month. The first payment you make in a month is for that month. Any subsequent payment in that month you stop paying. When you go to make your purchase, they don’t take the physical cash, we take an equivalent of the kilowatt hour because you are prepaying. He said the education on the LEC tariff be a continues process. It’s been ongoing but the level and scope should be increased so that everyone can get to know and that is why we are talking about this launch and the system we are working on is going to be the solution to this problem,” he stressed. Contributed by Linda Gbartie
