Low gas supply to GenCos, TCN maintenance, vandalism responsible for poor power supply —BEDC

The management of Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) has said low gas supply to generating companies (GenCos) and scheduled maintenance activities by the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) as the reasons for poor power supply to its franchise areas.

The company added that other challenges are vandalism and theft of electricity infrastructures and payment apathy.

In a statement on Sunday, IBEDC said it was committed to finding lasting solutions to the situation which has resulted in disruptions and inconveniences for residents and businesses.

It said, “One of the primary factors is the low supply of gas to generating companies (GenCos), which has led to a gradual decrease in available generation into the grid. This has significantly reduced the power available on the transmission grid for onward supply to IBEDC and in turn, greatly hindered our ability to provide power to customers within our franchise, namely Oyo, Ogun, Osun, Kwara and partly in Kogi, Niger and Ekiti states.

“Secondly, scheduled maintenance activities conducted by the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) in January and March 2024 necessitated 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 disruptions experienced by our customers.

“Furthermore, vandalism and theft of electricity infrastructures remain a major issue negatively impacting power supply. An example is the unfortunate vandalism of TCN towers in Ogun State in May 2023, which resulted in over seven months of darkness for many of our valued customers.

“At IBEDC, we are particularly confronted with the escalating cases of vandalism, with over 40 incidents recorded in 2024 alone. 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, metre bypass and illicit metres 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.

“Lastly, payment apathy from customers is a major challenge to adequate supply of power. 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.”

IBEDC further added that efforts are being taken to address the issues, including intervention from the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, to address gas supply issue.

It said, “On energy theft and vandalism, we are currently partnering with security agencies to reduce this vice, however, we urge our customers to remain vigilant, protect electrical infrastructures within their communities and report any suspicious activities promptly.”

“We are implementing comprehensive measures to improve and strengthen our infrastructure in order to efficiently distribute the power we receive from the grid. We are also urgently exploring alternate sources of power to enable us meet the power supply needed within our franchise.”