The management of the Benin Electricity Distribution Company Plc (BEDC), on Friday, attributed the power outage in its franchise states of Edo, Delta, Ondo, and Ekiti to low power generation by the Generating Companies (GenCos).
Giving an overview of BEDC operations during a media parley on Friday in Benin, the Edo State capital, BEDC’s Chief Technical Officer, Mr. Jonathan Lawani said that the power problem currently being experienced in the state was not peculiar to the company alone but affecting all distribution companies.
Lawani stated that Nigeria is heavily dependent on gas for power generation, adding that suppliers have refused to supply gas to generating companies because they have not been paid for supplies made.
“Gas suppliers are saying GenCos are owing, GenCos are saying TCN (Transmission Company of Nigeria) is owning, 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 noted that out of 10 meters installed, six are tampered with either at the point of installation or after installation, resulting in loss of revenue.
“This is a major problem in all the Discos not only in BEDC. You will agree with us that we need this revenue to purchase energy for distribution and improve our operation.
“We are working with the various state governments where we operate to come up with regulations to curb the menace”, he added.
He added that the Minister of Power, Mr. Bayo Adelabu is working round the clock to resolve the low generation problem, adding that BEDC has resorted to load shedding of the power allocated to it
He said BEDC has concluded the upgrade of its network and now has over 75 33KVA voltage lines covering over 5,000km in terms of length and over 3,022 11KVA feeders that provides service to customers.
He noted that with the upgrade, BEDC now has the capacity to take more power when the generation improves.
