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Tag: Ikeja Electric

  • Ikeja Electric explains power outage

    Ikeja Electric explains power outage

    THE Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company (Ikeja Electric) has explained the reason behind the power outage being experienced in Ikeja for over one week.

     Head, Communication and Strategy, Ikeja Electric, Olanipekun Adeyanju, confirmed that there was gross shortfall in supply and Ikeja Electric gets 330MW from the grid.

    He said: “We have transmission limitation coupled with the substantial decline in supply from the grid. We need at least 1,200MW to satisfy customers’ requirement but only get 330MW.

    “But in the short term, we will manage our load-shedding programme effectively to ensure that whatever we get from the grid is evenly distributed so that no customer is short-changed.”

    In the long term, he said the company is working on its embedded power generation programme. We are talking with some embedded power generators to complement whatever supply that will come from the grid. I appeal to our customers to be patient with us as we look at exploiting off-grid supply.”

    The Nation learnt that the company is challenged because of the drop in supply from the National Grid. Power generation declined from about 3,400 megawatts (MW) to 2,988MW this week.

    A source told The Nation that  that the breakdown of the company’s 150MVA transmission transformer worsened the situation as it was difficult to wheel the little supply from the grid to customers.

    As a result, customers in some parts of the Ikeja Electric network get zero supply.

    The source said: “We have limitation. The transmission transformer at Ikeja West station broke down forcing some areas to get zero supply. Therefore, the little supply from Alausa transmission station, which is distributed through the OPIC feeder that serves Magodo, Ojodu, Arepo and some others is going through load-shedding.”

    But the spokesperson of Transmission Company of Nigeria, Lagos Zone, Mrs. Celestina Osin said she contacted the technical personnel of Ikeja West and Alausa transmission stations and they confirmed there was no problem with the stations.

    She stated that the outage was as a result of a fault from the transmission end, adding that the Lagos West transformer had problems yesterday and was fixed a few hours later. Besides, the areas affected by the outage are not served by the transformer, she added.

    “I just learnt from the Ikeja West station that the faulty transformer had been fixed since 11 am. The problem is likely to be a local fault and not from TCN end as the operator at Alausa Transmission substation reconfirmed that feeders serving the areas are on at our TCN end.”

  • Ikeja Electric to upgrade customer data

    The Ikeja Electric Distribution Plc,  in conjunction with its technical partner, Korea Electricity Power Limited (KEPCO), has concluded arrangements to enumerate its customers to drive its metering programme.

    The firms signed a contract at the Ikeja Electric’s headquarters in Lagos to kick-start the project.

    Egbin Power  Plc, which KEPCO technically oversees, and Ikeja Electric, are owned by  Sahara Group, an integrated energy firm.

    Director, Sahara Group Mr. Kola Adesina said  the deal would involve mapping the location, coordinating each of the electrical networks, including 132kv/33kv system, 11kv system, distribution transformers and poles.

    It would also involve the indexing of Ikeja Electric’s distribution assets, such as power transformers, feeder pillars, high tension poles and distribution transformers, he added.

    He said: “This is going to be a thorough project that would ensure a solid foundation for efficient, equitable and transparent power supply to our esteemed customers. The customer and consumer indexing will be carried out through door-to-door survey. We are appealing to all our customers and the good people of Lagos to support the project by cooperating with the enumerators and provide accurate information that would empower Ikeja Electric to give the best service possible to all customers.”

    Adesina said that the project would provide a platform for assessing and deploying transformers and electricity equipment required in a community, noteing that this would address challenges faced by customers that would translate to improved power supply.

    He said that the project would ensure effective customer segmentation of high and low density areas and will support seamless update of the company’s customer data base.

    “We are transiting into an era where new technology will drive the campaign against energy theft and distortion of electrical equipment. The signing of the contract with KEPCO would also fast-track effective metering process.With this contract, l can boldly say that the kick-starting of our robust metering project has commenced,” he added.

    The Chief Executive Officer of Ikeja Electric, Abiodun Ajifowobaje, said that the signing of the contract was in compliance with the directive of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) to distribution companies to conduct customer enumeration to update their data base.

    He said the exercise would enable the company upgrade its system for better service delivery.

  • System breakdown leaves customers stranded at Ikeja DISCO

    OVER 700 electricity consumers from different parts of Lagos metropolis and its environs, that came to make payments as well as lodge other complaints at the Ikeja Electricity Distribution Plc (Ikeja Electric) Alausa, Ikeja, were left stranded yesterday as the management could not adequately address their concerns.

    When The Nation visited the corporate headquarters of Ikeja DISCO, vehicles parked at the entrance formed long queues making it practically impossible for easy getaway for visitors coming out of the premises just as anxious-looking customers in their hundreds all exposed to the elements sat for hours on end as they awaited their turns to be attended to by the management staff, who seemed overwhelmed with the surging crowd who vented their anger at the management for the sloppy services.

    Investigation by The Nation revealed that at issue was that a majority of the customers who had pre-paid metres couldn’t load the vouchers, just as many who made payments either online, banks and other channels were unsuccessful and had to come down to the headquarters to have these issues resolved to no avail.

    Visibly angry customers made up of the aged, after the tireless waiting, ran out of patience as some latecomers connived with some staff to jump the queue, resulting in a melee which took hours to contain as Mr. Edwin Agbo, the Chief Security Officer, tried without success to calm frayed nerves.

    Sharing his experience with The Nation, Pa Kola Idowu, Board Member, Divine Heritage Orphanage Centre, Ijede, Ikorodu, Lagos, recalled that he tried to load his pre-paid card without success last Wednesday and had to visit the Ikorodu district office of Ikeja DISCO to lodge complaints only to be referred to Ikeja.

    Upon his visit to Ikeja, rather than getting the needed respite, he was further directed to Ikorodu, where he was told he would have to return to Ikeja.

    “There is a lot of confusion here. These people have been tossing me up and down in the last few days. I have been unable to recharge my pre-paid cards and the bank is not accepting payments. It’s really confusing and nobody seems to have any clues,” Pa Idowu lamented.

    One of the staff who would not be named because he was not authorised to speak on behalf of the company offered plausible explanation as to what was amiss. “The reason why we have this crisis is because early this month we switched to a new payment platform and that is why we have this problem. But it will be over soon,” he assured.

    In a chat with The Nation, Mr. Pekun Adeyanju, Head Communication Strategy, Ikeja Electric, said the management in anticipation of the glitches appealed to its teeming customers during the yuletide that everything was being done to address the issues.

    “We regret the inconveniences and have already primed our customer care executives to give our esteemed customers prompt attention either at our various IE Serve care centers or when they call our help lines on 07000225543 or 01-4483900,” he said.