The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Energy theft

  • DisCos lose N30b monthly to energy theft, others

    Electricity Distribution companies (DisCos) suffer N30billion revenue deficit monthly due to government’s fixed pricing per unit of electricity and theft, Ikeja Electric Plc said yesterday.

    The company stated this at the maiden roundtable on the Nigerian Power Sector organised by Sahara Group Limited in Victoria Island, Lagos.

    With The Nigerian Power Sector: Narratives for Transformation and Sustainability as theme, the event had in attendance representatives of all electricity value chains including consumers, distribution, transmission, generation companies and regulators.

    Lamenting the challenges facing the sector, the Group Managing Director (GMD), Sahara Power, Kola Adesina said there was need to develop a purpose driven, credible and coherent framework to solve the problem.

    He said: “We need to have a sense of coherence in the system, alignment of all the relevant stakeholders so that everybody knows what is happening on the other side and not the current blame game we seem to be having. If we all work together, most definitely, we can deliver a better result. I am certain we will have light in Nigeria. It will be steady, regular and affordable and that is what the consumers want.

    “Customers want to turn on their switches at home and see light. It is not metering that would make that happen. Let us stop putting the horse first.

    “What we should be looking at the enablers that will drive investment and make players credit worthy in the banks. At the moment, those enablers are not there. The power sector is largely foreign exchange driven. Have we asked what the cost of production per unit of electricity is and how much consumers are paying?

    “The power sector is meant to encourage foreign investment, that is what electricity is meant to do anywhere in the world. But the enablers of electricity itself are not there. One of the numerous reasons government left the sector was the fact that they realised the efficiency required was not there. Government saw that if the private sector could come in with her own degree of efficiency, things are likely to improve. The investment we are making is predicated on certain fundamentals which need to be addressed.”

    Earlier, the Managing Director, Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), Usman Mohammed, said efforts were on to upgrade transmission networks so that energies generated would get to the distribution companies without wastage.

    To this end, Usman said $1.57billion has so far been invested in upgrading the transmission network, adding that they have achieved two out of four requirement for a steady grid.

    He said: “As of December, the capacity of transmission was 7124 megawatts (Mw), which is the same with generation. If you look at the power pyramid, when generation is 7,000, transmission is supposed to be 14,000.

     

     

     

     

    “That is why we have raised huge amount of money from several donors including World Bank, JICA and the African Development Bank to build the transmission network.

    “So far, we have raised $1.57billion. Some of the monthly have already been utilised like that of World Bank. Some of the projects are in the finishing phase. We are implementing projects to put necessary flexibility required internationally, so that if any transformer goes out, it will not affect supply.

    “What we are doing is to put capacity that would be able to dispatch all the generated power and ensure that in case of accident or problem with any of our equipment, it would not affect supply.

    “We are currently rehabilitating all our substations and building new lines across the country. We are changing old cables and equipment. Look at Lagos, for instance, we are trying to close the loop. Though the Ajah-Egbin Transmission line supplies the whole of Lagos Island one of the lines had been out for five years now.

    “So, we have awarded the contract recently and the second line is being rehabilitated to bring supply stability to the island. Still, we are working on closing the lope by building another 330KV line to serve the island. And this is what we are doing all over the country.

    “Uninterrupted power supply is achievable in Nigeria. It is a matter of investment and purposeful leadership. If we have leadership at all spheres, we can do it. In transmission, we have done two of the four things we need to stabilise the grid. The other two, we are working on and would achieve it by the grace of God.

    “We have achieved frequency control of 49.5 and 50.5 which have not been achieved in the last 20 years. We have also achieved significant investment in the network upgrading. What is remaining now is the spinning reserve and functional communication system that would enable the system operator to see everybody on the grid.”

    In his submission, Lagos State Commissioner for Energy, Olawale Oluwo said TCN’s Eligible Customer  innovation was threatening the business of DisCos the most.

    He said with the steps the government was taking towards generating 3000MWs from its Independent Power Plan (IPP), it would in the next five to 10 years, cut off national grid completely.

    On why the state was yet to advertise expression of interest in its IPP project, Olowu said the government would do so by next month.

     

  • Enugu DISCO gets task force on energy theft

    The Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC) has inaugurated a Special Investigation and Prosecution Taskforce on Electricity Offences (SIPTEO) to punish   individuals and organisations that commit energy theft and meter bypass as well as those involved in vandalism of electrical infrastructure

    The event, which took place at the company’s corporate headquarters in Enugu, was presided over by the Acting Managing Director/CEO, Mr. Paul Okeke.

    Other members of EEDC’s Board of Directors at the event included Dr. Steve Dike; the Technical Adviser to the Board, Mr. Yateesh Kumar; the company’s Transformational Consultant, Mr. Okey Nwosu and head of task force, Miss Chinenye Okafor.

    Okeke advised the team to be professional in the discharge of its duty, saying there is need for high-level integrity and respect for human rights.

    He said the high prevalence of meter bypass and energy theft in the Southeast posed a serious challenge to EEDC.

    According to him, the company has consistently recorded monthly losses in revenue, threatening its performance and sustainability.

    The leader of the 18-man special squad, Spencer Tyozua, a Superintendent of Police (SP), assured EEDC management that his team would be professional in discharging its task.

     

  • DisCos battle energy theft, others

    Electricity distribution companies (DisCos) have raised the alarm over the high rate of energy theft by unscrupulous customers, The Nation has learnt.
    According to the DisCos, the level of theft and vandalism of power equipment across the country militates against their resolve to improve operations and service delivery nationwide.
    This is coming on the heels of the drop in volume of electricity received monthly by the DisCos from the power generation companies (GenCos). The DisCos said what they received from the national grid had fallen considerably due to poor generation caused by shortage of gas supply.
    The DisCos also lamented the rate at which power consumers bypass their meters and steal their cables. In the process of stealing the equipment, the thieves badly vandalise our facilities, the DisCos added.
    The Nation further learnt that managements of the electricity distribution firms were disappointed by the development, which is having untold effects on their operation.
    Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC) Chief Executive Officer, Dr Oladele Amoda, said issues, such as electricity theft and equipment vandalism had become an albatross for DisCos. He said his firm has promised to improve on its customers needs, adding that the problem had affected the organisation’s resolve to do its best for them.
    Amoda said: “It is the resolve of EKEDC to meet its obligations to customers by spending money on meters and other equipment. Though we tried to do our best, the unsavory issues are killing. They do not allow customers to see our best, adding that issues such as theft and destruction of power equipment are criminal and should be treated accordingly.”
    Ikeja Electric Acting Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Anthony Youdeowei, said confirmed the theft, adding that the issues were having negative effects on the power firms.
    “While Ikeja Electric and other DisCos believe that it is their rights to meet the needs of customers and they are trying their best to do so, people should ensure that they complement the efforts of the DisCos to achieve the goals and stop creating problems for them,” he said.
    The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) also has raised serious concerns over destruction of facilities of power firms.
    Its Acting Chief Executive Officer, Dr Anthony Akah, has advised the firms to protect their properties and ward off attempts by people to destroy their equipment.

  • Energy theft threatening power sector, says EKEDC

    Energy theft threatening power sector, says EKEDC

    THE greatest threat to private investors and the reform in the power sector is energy theft by consumers, a Director in Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC), George Etomi, has said.

    He lamented that almost every consumer, including the elite who consume energy without paying the bills by by-passing electricity meters, are involved in energy theft.

    “You see the meters rolling, but they are not recording. People just consume and don’t pay,” he lamented.

    Etomi said there are people whose consumption is tied to other people’s meters. “There are some people whose meters we don’t even have access to. The prepaid meter is one of the most by-passed meters,” he said, adding that some people have between 10 and 20 air-conditioners in their houses but have single phase meter and then somehow pass their bill to somebody else.

    He, however, blamed the problem of energy theft on people’s perception over the years that electricity is a national cake. “In some communities, our workers cannot even go there to present bills; they will kill them. And if you go there and disconnect, they will reconnect. If you go back, they will molest you. So electricity theft is one of the greatest threats and that is because people over the years have just been used to power being like a share of the national cake. So, it’s not anything to them to steal,” he said.

    Etomi said because very few people pay electricity bill, energy theft has resulted in serious liquidity crisis in the system. While noting that perpetrators of the act are probably unaware of the harm they do to the system, he said because of energy theft there is not much cash in the system. “In fact, it is the few good people who pay their bills that are subsidizing the bad people in this electricity business. So, the whole system is totally starved of fund,” he added.

    The EKEDC director, however, said the company is using technology to overcome the challenge of electricity theft. He said the company is currently working on a programme to replace the pre-paid meters, which are easily compromised, with smart meters, and that under the programme customers with pre-paid meters would eventually get smart meters.

    “The smart meter will be located away from your house; what you have in your house is a dummy, like a counter. And what we are seeing, you too are seeing. They are in clusters; even if you manage to get there, you don’t even know which is yours,” he explained, adding that with prepaid meters, consumers and service providers would no longer be cheated.

    While urging consumers to be patient, Etomi pointed out that re-metering everybody would not be an easy task. He said apart from the capital expense involved the physical thing, there is need to know how many people are on the network and their pattern of consumption. According to him, there are close to 500, 000 consumers on EKEDC’s network alone.

  • ‘Energy theft, obsolete infrastructure, others crippling power supply’

    ‘Energy theft, obsolete infrastructure, others crippling power supply’

    Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) has identfied energy theft,  weak and obsolete infrastructure, vandalism and some customers’ unwillingness to pay as some of its post-privatisation challenges.

    These challenges, it said, were affecting its ability to ensure stable power supply to its customers.

    Its Executive Director, Commercial Services, Mr. Ernest Mupwaya, who spoke in Abuja yesterday said the management of the power firm has acquired and installed 140 transformers valued at over N200 million to replace faulty and obsolete ones.

    According to him, the firm is also in the process of procuring additional 200 distribution transformers  with a combined capacity of 80MVA  valued at N260 million.

    He said the procurement of the facilities is a demonstration of the firm’s  commitment to offer improved service delivery to customers in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.

    He spoke while making a presentation at a Customer Consultative Forum  held for electricity consumers in Apo, Lugbe, Kuje and Gwagwalada Districts of the city.

    He said the company has, since   the conclusion of the privatisation process last year, been able to upgraded a transformer in Lokoja, Kogi State and had added 15MVA to the network of Abuja DISCO.

    According to him, the firm has also completed another 15MVA in Suleja, Niger State.

    Mupwaya said the company also completed the  construction of a total of 49.5 kilometres of high tension (HT) lines between January and March this year to enhance network reconfigurations and reinforcements.

    He added that the firm also completed 33KV power evacuation project in Gwagwalada, which added 80 megawatts (Mw) to the network and boosted power supply in Kwali, Yangoji, Abaji, and other communities in the area.

    He urged customers to channel their complaints to the call centre that operates 24 hours for prompt action.

    According to him, the company will hold  similar customer consultative forum in other parts of the FCT, as well as in Kogi, Nasarawa and Niger states.

    Chairman, Customers Consultative Committee in Gwagwalada Area Council, Chief Eze Elendu, said there is a significant improvements in power supply in the area. He assured of the readiness of consumers in his  community to partner the AEDC to address challenges of vandalism, electricity theft and refusal by some customers to pay for energy consumed.

    The Chief of Kaduna Community in Gwagwalada, Chief Sunday Audu, who represented the Emir of Gwagwalada appealed for greater partnership between AEDC and the traditional rulers in its coverage area.