The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has informed the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola the progress of the projects in Shagamu, Ikeja West, Ajah, Ayobo, Omotosho, Ayede and Ogba, which it said would be completed between April and the end of this year.
This was part of the highlights of the 11th power sector monthly meeting held at the Ikeja West Transmission Station, Ayobo, Lagos with stakeholders in the sector, a statement endorsed by his Special Adviser on Communication, Hakeem Bello, explained.
Upon completion, the projects would improve power supply in Lagos and its environs.
Fashola’s remarks formed part of the 10-paragraph communiqué of the meeting, which was attended by representatives of operators at the executive management levels, includingManaging Directors and Chief Executive Officers of GenCos, DisCos and the TCN, as well as various government agencies, such as the Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC), the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trader (NBET), the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Nigerian Electricity Liability Management Company (NELMCO) and Nigerian Electricity Management Services Agency (NEMSA).
Fashola, who said consumers were the ones that pay the bills and must be treated rightly by operators, urged each operator and service provider to improve the user experience of its consumers, by improving metering and reducing estimated billings.
Acknowledging the challenges of liquidity in the sector, the NBET reminded the meeting that all operators must pay their bills as well as their suppliers and service providers promptly, to ensure that the sector remained functional and friendly to investors.
The meeting, which also agreed on the importance of government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) paying their debts, acknowledged the need for proper verification prior to payment.
He noted the on-going verification and data collection exercise which, it said, was aimed at improving liquidity in the sector.
While also resolving to complete and submit all outstanding audited financial accounts of all operators before the next meeting to improve transparency in the sector, the meeting noted the importance of the need to complete all outstanding works at the Ikot Ekpene switching station that was inaugurated last November to take full advantage of the added capacity to deliver incremental power.
Noting with delight that the family affected by the electrical accident at Oke-Ira, Ogba in Lagos State had been compensated by Ikeja Electric , the meeting stressed the need for all operators to observe all safety regulations in the sector and to make every effort to avoid such accidents in future.
The TCN also reported that with the commissioning of IkotEkpene switchyard, transmission capacity of the national grid was now above 6,500megawatts (Mw) adding that contrary to insinuations that the grid was not capable of carrying above 5,000Mw of generated energy, the capacity of the grid was dynamic and would continue to grow as more energy was added.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) noted that work was on going to repair all pipelines vandalised last year by militants to restore gas supply to power plants while
The meeting, which was chaired by the minister, was jointly hosted by Ikeja Electric and Egbin Power and, as usual, focused on identifying, discussing, and finding practical solutions to critical issues facing the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI).
Earlier,Fashola had stressed the need for operators, especially in the distribution areas, to endeavour to improve the quality of their service to consumers pointing out that the consumers being the ones paying the bills must be treated with all care and respect.
The minister urged the operators to continue to train and retrain their personnel to recognise that the customer is king adding that even if they could not provide all that the customers required, they owed the customers a duty to explain what they were doing at any point in time.
He said: “We owe a duty to fish out a few staff that are not dedicated and retrain or discard them. I know that they are not many but a few because we get constant reports and we know we have got staffs that are very dedicated. Our staff must know that without customers they don’t have a job.
“Without the customer, we have no business and I think all those in the private sector understand that. If you don’t have the zeal and dedication to serve, please leave, it is a thankless task but it is a noble task to serve.”
