NERC just found companies plugged into Nigeria's national grid that it couldn't properly see.

The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission issued Order NERC/2026/013 on March 9, giving all privately owned transmission substations connected to the national grid 45 days to register and obtain a permit.

The trigger: the Nigerian Independent System Operator had been reporting frequent transmission line trips linked to privately operated substations. Companies had connected their infrastructure to the national grid without full regulatory visibility. When their equipment caused outages, there was no accountability mechanism to reach them.

Existing operators have 45 days to comply. IoT metering systems go in at interconnection points within 120 days. Monthly operational reports become mandatory.

It's a technical directive with a very familiar Nigerian shape. Infrastructure built faster than the rules designed to govern it. Every unexplained grid collapse you've ever sat through has a version of this story inside it somewhere.