- By Femi Alabi
Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) attributed the current state of the power supply within its franchise area to several factors, including non payment by customers because they have not received the preferred hours of supply.
Spokesperson for IBEDC, Busolami Tunwase, in a statement issued on Sunday in Ibadan, added that the low supply of gas to generating companies had resulted in gradual decrease in available generation into the grid.
According to her, the development has contributed to the disruptions and inconveniences currently being experienced by residents and businesses within its franchise area, namely: Oyo, Ogun, Osun, Kwara and part of Kogi, Niger and Ekiti states.
Tunwase also said that this had significantly reduced the power available on the transmission grid for onward supply to IBEDC, thus hindering the company’s ability to provide power to customers within the area.
“Scheduled maintenance activities conducted by the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) in January and March, 2024 also necessitates planned outages in specific areas of our network.
“While these measures are essential for ensuring the long-term reliability of electricity infrastructure, we recognise the inconvenience they may cause and sincerely apologise for any disruption experienced by our customers,” she said.
The spokesperson also mentioned vandalism and theft of electricity infrastructure as other major issues negatively impacting power supply.
She specifically mentioned the vandalism of TCN towers in Ogun in May 2023 which resulted in over seven months of darkness for many customers.
She said that IBEDC had been confronted with the escalating cases of vandalism, with over 40 incidents already recorded since the beginning of the year.
“The theft of valuable assets, such as transformer oil, cables and aluminum conductors, pose a significant challenge to our operations, as communities affected are thrown into extended periods of outage, depending on the severity of the act.
“Energy theft through illegal connections, meter bypass and illicit meters are also major issues affecting adequate supply of power to customers, because they result in revenue losses and liquidity problems for the electricity value chain.
“We have also noticed an alarming upsurge, with over 1,450 identified cases of energy theft between January and February 2024,” she said.
Tunwase added that payment apathy from customers was another major challenge to adequate supply of power.
She, however, said that IBEDC had partnered with security agencies to reduce energy theft and vandalism, even as she urged customers to remain vigilant, protect electrical infrastructures within their communities and report any suspicious activity promptly.
“Unfortunately, across our customer segments, we have different mindsets that electricity is a social service and should not be paid for; some only pay part of the bill, while others don’t pay because they haven’t received their preferred hours of supply.
“To all our customers, our appeal is simple: please pay for whatever hours of supply you have consumed, in addition to the outstanding bills to enable IBEDC survive and become sustainable, as this is the guarantee for improved power supply.”