SSA on power challenges PHED to improve power distribution in AKS

Power Sector Stakeholders at the Meeting

The Senior Special Assistant to the  Governor on Power, Dr. VictorUdo has challenged Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company (PHEDC) to improve power supply and the distribution infrastructure management in the State.

Dr. Udo who spoke at the monthly power sector stakeholders meeting held in his office said “PHEDC has been rejecting power allocated to the State because of their inefficient method of bill collection”.
He said “rejection of power allocated to the State is neither consistent with the provisions of the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) nor the National Control Center (NCC)”.

The SSA stated that “Ibom Power is generating over 100MW and NIPP power plant at Calabar is also generating which means there is sufficient power generation for consumption within the State”

He added that “the crux of steady power supply problem in the State is the distribution component. If the generation is available and the distribution company is rejecting the power, which energy will the customers pay bills for?”

Dr. Udo said “instead of rejecting load because they cannot collect revenue, PHEDC should collaborate with the electricity consumers committee within communities in the State to implement a more effective method of bill collection and steady power supply”

He suggested that “PHEDC should install bulk meters at the distribution transformers and read the power output from the transformer to ascertain true consumption”

Speaking further he said “when this is done, PHEDC can collaborate with the electricity consumers committee to collect bills based on actual consumption at each transformer instead of estimated billing”.
He added that “it is detrimental to the steady power supply objective of the State government if most of the power generated in the State is evacuated to other regions of the country while Akwa Ibom is not properly served”.

He therefore concluded by setting-up a committee to discuss the issue with the Chairman of 4-PowerConsortium (the majority owners of PHEDC) with the aim of resolving the issue to ensure improvement in power distribution across the State.