The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Kano Disco

  • ‘Kano DisCo remains disconnected over rule breach’

    The electricity distribution companies (DisCos) suspended for breaching electricity market rule have been reconnected to the grid, the Managing Director, Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), Mr. Usman Gur Mohammed, has said.

    Ikeja, Eko, Port Harcourt, Enugu and Kano DisCos were suspended and were partially disconnected to enable them comply with market rules they signed on to. While Eko, Ikeja and Enugu have complied and their suspension lifted, Port-Harcourt and Kano DisCos remain suspended.

    Mohammed said: “We enforce the market rule especially where we suspend a DisCo, the suspension comes with some level of explanation.  The market rule gives us power to disconnect the whole supply to that DisCo but we look at the feeder that supplies the offices of the DisCos on default and we disconnect the feeders that feed them. We don’t disconnect everybody, we are also Nigerians and we are mindful of the fact that we don’t want people to feel bad about us.

    “No DisCo is under disconnection except Kano DisCo. All others have complied with the rule and we have reconnected them. None of them even lasted for one week except Kano DisCo. We decided to reconnect due to Sallah celebration but we will disconnect them after the Sallah. The feeders we disconnected in Kano also feed other households, but the intention is to force them to comply with the market rule and do the right things.

    “What we are doing in Nigeria is gaining the market. All the DisCos have universal licences and not restricted licences. It is not a licence that says if you are in Lagos, leave Ajegunle out and serve only Apapa. No, they are supposed to serve everybody. Secondly, the aggregate technical collection and commercial (ATC&C) losses, based on the performance agreement they (DisCos) signed included poor people and rich people. To prioritise supply to some areas at the detriment of others does not make sense because their licence is not restrictive.

    “If a DisCo tells you what we are doing is affecting their business model, ask also which study they conducted that gave them that policy they are working with. We have conducted a credible study, which is called 20-year DisCo-Transmission Expansion Plan. “The plan looks at the needs of the DisCos and come up with a report that says this is how you should expand because most of the DisCos are not performing and are not even investing. To escape from their failure of lack of investment, they will say we are putting capacity where they don’t need it.

    “Electricity stability requires what we call redundancy and the least you can is N-1 which means any place where they need 60KvA, you will give them 60KvA x 2 and that is what we are doing under the programme.”

    He said there was nothing like giving supply to where they don’t need it. According to him, what is happening is that some of them are gaining the market.

    Mohammed added: “They refused to put prepaid meters in some places, supply them energy for few hours and charging them on filthy charges (estimated billing or crazy billing). All these claims that poor people don’t pay are all lies. The reality is that we have been gaming the market, people are frustrated and when frustrated, they can use several means to punish us, including refusing to pay, and tapping the meters.

    “There is no relationship between poverty and payment of electricity bill. What the poor needs is adequate power supply, meter and give him the choice to switch on/off as he pleases.”

     

  • Kano Disco running at loss, says MD

    The Managing Director of Kano Electricity Distribution Company (KEDCO), Mr. Jamil Isiyaku Gwamna, yesterday lamented the inability of customers to pay electricity bill, a development which he said has grossly affected the revenue generation drive of the company.

    Gwamna, who spoke during the 2018 Marketing Conference of the company held in Kano, said the company has almost been running at loss, due to non-prompt-payment of electricity bills by subscribers.

    According to him, despite the challenge, the company has been able to wax stronger in terms of service delivery, as the number of hours of electricity supply to customers has greatly increased in the three zones of Kano, Katsina and Jigawa states.

    He further stated that “this is the third marketing conference we KEDCO are organising within the last two years. The reason behind the yearly marketing conference is for us to come together to fashion out strategies that will enhance the company’s progress and for our customers to get acquainted with our plans for steady power supply and prompt payment for their bills, so as to enhance our revenue generation by meeting our targets.

    “Also, the staff and the management to come out and brain storm on what we have achieved last time and then see what we are going to achieve for the year to come.

    “So, this is where we set the tone for next year. We do this because we want everybody to be onboard and understand the objectives of the company and our driving philosophy, so that at the end of the day, we provide those things we promised to provide, such as customer intimacy through the improvement of our service delivery and to also make sure that the company becomes profitable over time.

    “You see, the power sector in the country has a lot of challenges. Despite the challenges, there are some incremental improvement we have done. Overall, if you look at the industry, it hasn’t fared very well, simply based on various reasons. I don’t want to trade blames here but modestly at KEDCO we have been able to improve on our customers’ service delivery.

    “We have improved on the number of power supply and we have also been rated high by customers’ response. We have also invested a lot of money, in terms of achieving all what our customers have enjoyed. Could we be better? Yes, we can be better. Is it what we want at the moment? No! That is why we are trying to put all these in their proper perspective. And as such, we still have a long way to go.”

    He said, “Our greatest challenge is with our customers. In our collection efficiency, especially in the residential areas, it is still less than 30 per cent; so that means, that for every one kobo of electricity that we supply in kilowatts hour, we lose 70 kobo and we have been unable to collect that 70 kobo. So, it is a huge loss for us. This is the industry that needs the cooperation of everybody because we are service providers.

    “So, unless our customers promptly pay for those services, we cannot break even. On our target of N4 billion, at the moment, we are still very far from that in meeting the revenue target.”

  • Kano DisCo seeks total privatisation of power sector

    The Chief Technical Officer, Kano Electricity Distribution Company (KEDCO), Mr David Olu Omoloye, has advised the Federal Government to completely privatise the power sector so as to get the best form it.

    Speaking during an inaugural and investiture ceremony the Chairman, Nigerian Institution of Power Engineers (NIPE), Kano State Chapter,  organised for him and other executives of the association in Kano yesterday. he said privatisation as well as injection of the right tariff structure that protects the poor and encourage industrial activities have the potential to encourage the socio-economic development of the country.

    Omoloye said a right energy mixture was also required to fully optimise all available power resources, with special emphasis on renewable energy development balanced with non-renewable.

    While, acknowledging the giant effort made by the country in deregulating the power sector, he said lamented the increasing gap between power demand and supply in the country.

    “Power is the heart beat of a nation. The social economic problem in Nigeria has it root cause in the under-development of the power industry. In the community of nations, Nigeria seems to have been left behind on the power industry development.

    “The ever increasing gap between demand and supply has been a great challenge to Nigeria development. With increasing population of Nigeria not balanced with power demand, the urgent need to close the gap cannot be over-emphasised,” Omoloye stated.

    He added that since power development was highly capital intensive, the investment required to raise the bar of the industry to comfort zone cannot be singlehandedly handled by the government.

    “The solution lies in total privatisation of the power industry to allow capital inflow couple with right  tariff structure that protects the poor and encourage industrial development also, a right energy mix is required” he  stated.

    Omoloye said NIPE under his leadership would be teaming up with other stakeholders to lift the state, and Nigeria at large to a position of excellence in power delivery.

  • Kano Disco rewards 15 workers

    The management of Kano Electricity Distribution Company (KEDCO) has rewarded about 15 workers for their dedication and commitment to the development of the company.

    At the award night held at Royal Tropicana Hotels, Regional Manager in-charge of Kano Central Region, Abubakar Jimeta, hailed the recipients for putting in their best and making the company more efficient.

    According to him, the event was organised to reward recipients for their excellent performance and to motivate them to put in their best.

    “We are doing this in recognition of your hardwork, excellent performance and loyalty to the goals and objectives of KEDCO.

    “KEDCO management team is proud of you. You have done a lot for this company, you have achieved a lot for this company; and so, there is the need to reward your excellence and motivate you to do more,” Jimeta said.

    The awardees include Mohammed Musa Mohammed, Nura Isa, Zainab Ilu, Aliyu Abubakar, Ismaila Musa Hassan, Haruna Ibrahim Jubril, Shukra Zakari Ishaq and Ruth Onyeugo.

    Others are Suleiman Abdullahi, Nura Saleh, Abdullaziz Danjada,Nafiu Muazu, Usamatu Illyasu, Musa Muhammad, Hassana Rimi and Abubakar Suleiman.