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…loses billions of naira monthly to energy theft, vandalism
Raymond Ozoji, Awka
The Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC) has expressed worry that the company buys about N5 billion worth of electricity on monthly basis but struggles to recover about N3 billion monthly. The company pointed out that the organization’s business was bleeding profusely stressing that payment of electricity bills was vital to the sustenability of the energy sector.
The Head of Communications of Enugu Electricity Distribution Company Mr. Emeka Ezeh made this known in an exclusive interview with our correspondent at the EEDC headquarters in Enugu.
Ezeh said although energy theft, meter by-pass, and vandalisation of its installations across the region posed some challenges confronting its services, the company wouldn’t be deterred in its resolve to provide constant electricity supply to its customers in the southeast region of the country.
He also said that EEDC was currently evolving strategies to satisfy its customers. This he said involved what he mentioned as dedicated lines for industrial clusters to guarantee uninterrupted and reliable power supply to boost their businesses. He said the company has implemented such strategy in Ogbaru and Nnewi industrial clusters.
Ezeh maintained that markets in Anambra enjoyed supply from the EEDC, with particular reference to the Eke-Awka market where he said the market feeds from the Udoka estate feeder and that the market was billed as a single entity like other markets under its network.
He also noted that EEDC has enjoyed the support and collaborations of local vigilance groups in all its service centres in Anambra, noting that the local security operatives were responsible for the arrest of over 70% of vandals terrorising EEDC installations across the state.
Ezeh extolled Anambra State Government for supporting EEDC operations in the state.
He said Governor Willie Obiano had shown great support to its activities as evidenced in the provision of a plot of land where the company sited its substation in Awka to improve electricity supply in the area.
He noted that the kind of support the organization received from the Anambra State Government was worthy of emulation by other Southeast state governments.
Ezeh said that Governor Obiano was interested in lighting up the entire Anambra as demonstrated in his street-lighting project across the state, noting that the governor supported EEDC a great deal when the company mounted the Orumba-North and South power line.
He further stated that EEDC has a cordial relationship with the Anambra State Government and that the state was equally servicing its debts when compared to other states whose debt profile has generated so much concern.
He said that apart from installing a 7.5 MVA capacity injection substation at the Anambra Broadcasting Service Complex Awka, the company has also upgraded the Agu-Awka injection substation from 15 MVA capacity to 22.5 MVA capacity intended to further improve supply to the area.
According to him, EEDC has equally sought the intervention of the governor on some transmission company of Nigeria projects the company described as rather slow in the state especially as it concerns the upgrading of the transformer at Agu-Awka to enable all the feeders to be active simultaneously.
The spokesman of the EEDC said Nimo substation in Njikoka local government area of Anambra state has also been upgraded to 15 MVA, stressing that a lot of conscious efforts were being made to improve on the stability of its network across Anambra state in order to provide quality service to its customers.
