Energy Briefs
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CHINEDU Nebo, minister of power, has charged the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company, AEDC, to urgently address the epileptic power supply in the entire Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja, and its environs. He said the erratic supply of power in and around Abuja, especially in key government establishments is slowing down the pace of work, which is greatly impeding the performance of government programmes and activities.
The minister gave the marching order when he paid an unscheduled visit to AEDC headquarters in Abuja, on Tuesday, October 20, to ascertain the challenges responsible for the recent drop in power supply in the FCT, with a view to collaborating with the company to provide immediate solution.
Nebo lamented that Abuja as the seat of power, could not afford to operate under low power supply, adding that the situation where most government establishments are starved of constant power supply is totally unacceptable. He called on the management of AEDC to do a thorough check as well as prioritise load shedding to ensure that there is equitable distribution of electricity. He also noted that Nigeria, which is currently wooing investors into the power sector, will receive negative response from prospective investors if confronted with darkness when they come to discuss business. “There is cheering news from other cities about improvement in power supply, whereas Abuja, where major government transactions take place is unfortunately starved of the needed regular power supply,” the minister said.
In his response, Neil Croucher, managing director, AEDC, called for a political decision in the quantum of power supply to the FCT. According to him, the amount of power supplied to Abuja has drastically reduced thereby necessitating the rationing of power in such a way as to satisfy all its customers. He said the issues raised by the minister were of great concern to the company, adding that prompt response would be given to ensure that load shedding was prioritised for optimum results.
Croucher said that his company is in close discussion with five other electricity companies on embedded power to ensure that the supply to Abuja and its environs increased to boost economic activities in the area.
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Power Firms Get Two-Week Deadline to Provide Meters
THE Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, has given power distribution companies a two-week ultimatum to provide meters for customers who had paid for it under the Credited Advance Payment for Metering Implementation scheme. The NERC said any distribution company which fails to meter eligible consumers within the timeframe will face severe sanctions.
Sam Amadi, chairman, NERC, said a lot of consumers had complained of not being metered by the respective Discos for more than four months even after paying for the meters. He said this during a meeting with the electricity distribution companies and stakeholders on the aggregate technical, commercial and collection loss studies at the NERC headquarters in Abuja, on Tuesday, October 21.
“Let me assure consumers who have written to us to complain about meters under the CAPMI. Many people have written to us to say that they have paid for meters under the initiative of credited advance payment for meters and they have not received the meters for the past three, four months or more than that. By this week, we are sending letters to all the Discos. The commissioner for consumer affairs is already preparing the letters. We will give the Discos two weeks to make sure they fully meter all those who have paid because the order of the commission is for 45 days.
“And so, after the two weeks, we will be conducting public hearings to ascertain whether all those who have paid for CAPMI meters have been metered. And the commission will view very seriously failure to meter these consumers. So, I want to assure those of you writing to us with complaints that they have paid for CAPMI meters in the last three, four months that we will ensure in the coming weeks that those who have not been metered are properly metered. And Discos that have not metered their consumers who paid for those meters themselves will be sanctioned,” he said.
The commission also said that it wanted Nigerian consumers to help clampdown on recalcitrant distribution companies in the electricity market. Amadi said NERC would largely rely on electricity consumers to provide it with information and evidence of poor electricity services delivered by the distribution companies in order to bring the firms to book. “Another thing I will like to say here is to always encourage consumers not just to pay their bills as at when due, but also to take interest in knowing more of the intricacies in the sector. So, I want to encourage consumers to continuously engage with us and with their service providers.”
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