The management of the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC), PLC, on Wednesday, warned that it would not tolerate any intruder in its electricity network and facilities in the Ondo South Senatorial District (OSSD), in Ondo State.
This was just as the electricity distribution company maintained that it “is still in full charge of OSSD and “is not ready to sell any of its network” in the operational area, stressing that anyone licensed to provide electricity in the locality should be ready to build its own network.
Speaking with journalists in his office in Benin, the Chief Technical Officer (CTO), of BEDC, Mr. Jonathan Lawani, said that the Disco’s attention had been drawn to some claims in the media space that the Ondo State Government had given the nod to a new state operator to provide electricity in the OSSD area.
Lawani noted that while the state government, by virtue of the Electricity Act 2023, reserved the right to bring in state operator, BEDC had not been notified of that and its services in that area had not been determined, stressing that if there was any development in that direction, the BEDC would take that up within the permissible limits of the regulatory laws.
The BEDC boss maintained that while the Disco would continue to encourage competition in all its franchise states, the way it allowed the Ossiomo power project in Edo state, it would not sell any of its network to anybody, just as it would not tolerate anyone intruding in its facilities.
“We want to assure our customers in the OSSD area, particularly in Okitipupa and environs that BEDC is still in operation there. Nobody has asked us to leave. The state government can bring in any operator. But any such net licensee must know that it must build its own network.”
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“It is also important for us to inform our customers in OSSD that BEDC has improved its network in the area. For now, we have a seven number 11KVA Feeders in OSSD. We have established a full business office in Okitipupa and we have over 48 substations within the Okitipupa transmission station.
“Our customers should be assured that BEDC has not been suspended from operating in the area. If that happens, the government will communicate to us, and we shall take it up with the regulators and the existing laws. We have no problem with any new licensee provided that such a state operator does not intrude on our network. We only read in the social media that a new state operator has been licensed and we have not been communicated”, Lawani emphasised.
Assuring that its operations in the locality are intact, Lawani said that “BEDC has the capacity, the equipment and the manpower for its operations in OSSD. The new business office in Okitipupa is to serve our customers in that area. Until we are advised by the regulator, we will continue to carry out our lawful business in the OSSD.”
The BEDC Chief Technical Officer warned that “Any attempt to tamper with our network, we will deal with such a person in accordance with the law. Our network in OSSD is not for sale and will not be given to any new licensee. We have just rehabilitated the 13 KVA feeder and the 48 distribution sub-stations (transformers). This is why electricity consumers in Okitipupa, who are supposed to be on Band C, now have supply for 18 hours, which is what was designed for Band ba.”
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