The Port-Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company (PHEDC) is one of the 11 distribution companies licensed to operate in Nigeria. But the firm does not derive joy operating within its jurisdiction of Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom, Cross River and Rivers State.
Ordinarily, one expects a company that renders services to 440,000 residential, commercial, industrial and street lighting customers to have a robust balance sheet. But PHEDC is not smiling to the bank despite having such customer base.
Its operational profit has been seriously hampered by energy theft. In fact, the statistics reeled out by the company in a forum it recently organised in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, showed that the PHEDC is operating at a huge loss. Such losses according to the firm is the reason behind its inability to effectively buy and distribute megawatts of electricity to its real customers.
Present at the forum were the Chairman, Board of Directors, PHEDC, Chief Amalate Turner, represented by the Special Adviser to Bayelsa Governor on Energy, Mr. Francis Ekio; Manager, Corporate Communications Department, John Onyi; Head, Glory City Main Integrated Business Centre, Mrs Ngozi Manafa, among others.
A presentation by a member of the company’s Legal Department, Mr. Ephraim Munachiso showed that the company loses over N233million representing over 7million kilowatts of energy to electricity theft every month. Yearly the company incurs a loss of N3bn to the menace.
Munachiso further posited that 10 per cent of prepaid customers had never vended since they were connected while the Technical, Commercial and Collection (ATC &C) losses of the company is as high as 60 per cent monthly representing 30megawatts or N2bn average monthly losses.
Defining ATC & C, he said: “The most critical challenge facing the distribution sector is how to reduce the technical, commercial and collection (ATC & C) Losses.
“Unfortunately, the Aggregate Technical, Commercial and Coll ection losses is what is used in assessing the health status of anys utility company like PHED. The lower the value of ATC & C, the healthier the utility company is considered to be.
“Technical distribution losse s are electrical losses arising from the transformation of electrical energy into heat energy as it flows and transmitted through conductors to any of the DISCO’s”.
On commercial losses, he said they are revenue losses arising from electricity theft, poor b illing practices, inaccurate c ustomer database, wrong tariff classification and unbilled energy. He defined collection losses as simply revenue losses arising from discos’ inability to collect revenues for energy billed to known customers.
He said two years after privatisation, PHED was still grappling with very high losses caused by poor collection and revenue shortfall, network infrastructure challenges and grid energy insufficiency and instability.
He identified common types of electricity theft as hooking or direct tapping, meter bypass and illegal connections. But he said the law frowns on electricity theft saying it is classifying as stealing under the Criminal Code Act Section 400.
He said civilians are empowered by the Police Act to arrest anybody seen to be committing energy theft. According to him currently, PHEDC is prosecuting 13 different criminal cases emanating from energy theft within its network. He named key players to the theft as staff sabotage, casuals and electricians.
Munachiso lamented that the company incurs its major loss at the Yenagoa district adding that most people living in Bayelsa State do not pay their bills. He said it is not profitable to operate in the state.
Speaking on the matter, Turner further explained that the poor power supply especially in Bayelsa is because consumers were not paying their bills.
On stealing and vandalism of PHEDC equipment, he urged the perpetrators to desist from such act, saying the menace had far reaching implications for power supply.
Turner said the Bayelsa State Government was coming out with a law to punish anybody who engaged in unwholesome practices such as vandalism, tapping of light, meter manipulation, among others.
He also urged the public to report any errant officials of the PHEDC, challenging the customers not to be docile.
A safety manager with the company, Mr. Gabriel Egede, urged customers to be safety conscious and avoid engaging in unwholesome activities as such could lead to loss of lives.
He said no fewer than 557 fatalities had been recorded in the last four years because of vandalism, illegal connection and tempering with electricity equipment. He said it was dangerous for people to engage in the practice of erecting structures under high tension wires.
