DisCos Rejecting Electricity Uptake Risk Sanctions – Power Minister

The federal government has accused some electricity distribution companies (DisCos) of deliberately refusing to take up power supply from the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) thereby contributing to the current power crisis.

Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, who made this known, said the management of non-performing DisCos would be queried for non-performance or have their licence revoked over non performance as reports continue to filter in on the situation in their regions.

Accordeking, Adelabu summoned the chief executives of Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) and Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) to a meeting next week, over worsening power supply in their region. Also summoned over the deteriorating power situation is the managing director of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), Sule Ahmed Abdulazeez.

According to a statement by his special adviser on Strategic Communication and Media Relations, Bolaji Tunji, the minister expressed worry over the worsening power supply, and revealed plans by the federal government to query non-performing power distribution companies.

There has been an abysmal power supply situation nationwide since the beginning of this year.

Several parts of Abuja have been experiencing blackouts as the TCN on Wednesday, February 28, confirmed the vandalisation of its transmission towers by vandals.

The transmission company said Tower 70 along its 330kV Gwagwalada-Katampe Transmission line was ‘seriously vandalised.’

The incident, the company said, occurred on the 26th of February at about 11.32 pm.

The situation was similar in several parts of the country, with many Nigerians protesting against the epileptic and complete outage of power supply.

Expressing concern over the situation, Adelabu, via a letter signed by the director of Distribution Services at the Federal Ministry of Power, B.U Mustapha, mandated the chief executives of the Discos and TCN to be present at a meeting set for next week.

According to the statement, Adelabu said the management of other non-performing discos would also be queried over non-performance as reports continue to filter in on the situation in their regions.

“These two discos have been summoned due to the worsening power supply situation in their regions despite improved supply from TCN,” the power minister stated.

Adelabu said that despite the gas shortage, the ministry had been urging power-generating companies to enhance their performance, and generation had been ramped up to over 4,000 megawatts in recent days.

“So, we expect power supply to have improved across the country, unlike what we are experiencing in some regions, currently. Findings revealed that some distribution companies were deliberately not taking up power supply from TCN while some power lines were also damaged by vandals in Abuja, Benin, Port Harcourt and Ibadan regions.

Going forward, the minister said the focus would be on all the DisCos to compel them to perform while “wilful non-performance by any DisCo could suffice as a reason for severe punishment or outright licence revocation, the statement stated.

The minister has also directed TCN to commence repair works on the damaged transmission towers and power lines immediately to improve supply in the affected regions.

Recall that the minister had embarked on supervisory visits to some of the power generating plants in the last few months. He was in Kainji hydro power plant which will soon embark on an expansion plan to boost the existing 560MW operational capacity. He also visited Benue and Taraba States to assess the infrastructure being constructed to evacuate an additional 30 megawatts from the Kashimbilla hydo power station to the national grid. Presently, only 10MW is being evacuated from the hydro power plant.The minister was also in Olorunshogo and Omotosho thermal plants in Ogun and Ondo States, Ihvobor and Azura power plants in Edo state, respectively.

During the visits, the Minister assured these power plants that plans are underway by the federal government to defray part of the outstanding debts being owed the power generation companies and the gas supply companies. With this, succour is close to electricity consumers nationwide as we expect this action to improve generation levels across the country. He also appealed to electricity consumers to exercise a little patience while the situation is being turned around.