BEDC blames power outage on low power generation

The Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) Plc, on Friday, stated that irregular power supply in its four franchise states of Edo, Delta, Ekiti, and Ondo, and the frequent outages were caused by low power generation by the Generation Companies (Gencos).

This announcement coincided with the new management of the electricity distribution company assuring that efforts were underway to collaborate with third-party companies involved in power generation to acquire alternative sources of power supply for onward distribution to its customers across the four states.

Making the disclosure on Friday in Benin, the Chief Technical Officer (CTO) of BEDC, Mr. Jonathan Lawani, who gave an overview of BEDC operations during a media parley, said the power problem currently being experienced in the states was not unique to BEDC alone but affecting all Discos.

Lawani stated that Nigeria was heavily dependent on gas for power generation, adding that the gas suppliers had refused to supply gas to generating companies because they had not been paid for supplies made before.

He reiterated that while BEDC had not been found wanting in distributing the volume of power allocated to it, it had become practically impossible for the company to distribute beyond what it was allotted.

According to the BEDC Chief Technical Officer, the problems in the nation’s power sector spiral and revolve within the four critical components of generation, transmission, distribution, and payment for consumption.

“Gas suppliers are saying Gencos are owing, Gencos are saying TCN (Transmission Company of Nigeria) is owing, TCN is saying Discos are owing, and Discos are saying that customers are not paying their bills.

“So if power supply must improve, customers have a role to play by paying for electricity consumed through BEDC accredited billing agents,” he said.

He also attributed the non-availability of power to the increased energy theft and vandalism currently ongoing in its network.

He disclosed that out of every 10 meters installed, six were tampered with either at the point of installation or after installation, resulting in a loss of revenue.

“This is a major problem in all the Discos, not only in BEDC. And you will agree with us that we need this revenue to purchase energy for distribution.

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“We are working with the various state governments where we operate to come up with regulations to curb the menace,” he added.

Speaking further, he said the Minister of Power was working round the clock to resolve the low generation problem, adding that BEDC had resorted to load shedding of the power allocated to it.

According to him, BEDC has concluded the upgrade of its Network and “now have over 75 33KVA voltage lines covering over 5,000Km in terms of length and over 3,022 11KVA feeders that provide service to customers.”

He noted that with the upgrade, “BEDC has more capacity to take power when power generation improves.”

The CTO appealed to the media to join in the fight against vandals, adding that the company recorded more than 10 cases of vandalism on a daily basis.

He called on the various communities across BEDC’s operation areas to take responsibility for the network lines in their domains.