Oscarline Onwuemenyi
11 March 2016, Sweetcrude, Abuja – The Management of Abuja Electricity Distribution Company, AEDC, has explained the load shedding being experienced in its franchise area, saying that this is as a result of the drop in load allocated to it by the system operator.
The Company’s explanation is coming on the heels of the recent drop in the power supply to its customers in its area of operation, which include the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Kogi, Nasarawa and Niger states.
In a statement signed by its Public Relations Officer, Ahmed Shekarau, which was made available to journalists in Abuja, AEDC stated that with the recent drop in electricity generation occasioned by shortage in gas to the power plants, the quantum of energy made available to it from the national grid fell far short of what it had been receiving a few months ago.
The Company stressed that when there is limited power available to it, load shedding to its customers in the FCT as well as other states in the company’s franchise area become inevitable.
It, however appealed for the understanding of its customers over the recent developments, assuring that it had never failed to distribute the load allocated to it by the system operator since November 2013 when the current Management took over the Company.
Meanwhile, the AEDC has raised the alarm over the rising cases of vandalism of various electricity paraphernalia in its distribution network, especially in Wuse and other parts of the Abuja city centre.
A statement issued by the company’s spokesman, Ahmed Shekarau, yesterday, revealed that no fewer than 10 different power system equipment were vandalised, and in most cases carted away, by unknown persons in less than one week in the Wuse area of its FCT Central region.
The statement listed some of the wrecked power systems to include a feeder pillar which was vandalised and taken away from No. 2, Bangui Street, Wuse II; the low voltage side of two transformers which were vandalised along Monrovia Street, also in Wuse II, with all the bus bars, feeder pillar units and low voltage cables taken away by the vandals.
The statement said further that a feeder pillar was completely disconnected and taken away along Durban Street, Wuse II while approximately 3 x 150mm2 XLPE cable of an 11KV transformer on the Sheraton Hotel feeder was vandalised in the early hours of February 20, 2016.
The AEDC revealed further that in the early hours of February 23, 2016, vandals removed two feeder pillars, one around the OAU Quarters in Wuse II, and another along Blantyre Street, also in Wuse II, and made away with both equipment.
To this end, the company has appealed to members of the public to be vigilant over power equipment that delivers electricity to them and also reports any suspicious movements around such facilities to security agencies.
The AEDC explained further that it had taken load in excess of its allocation every month in order to meet customers’ demand. “When there is an extra load on the system, we have always taken it in order to ensure that we meet the demands of our customers”, the AEDC management stressed.
Reiterating its appeal to the customers, the Company assured that it would continue to optimise its load shedding to ensure that all its customers were given fair consideration in the distribution of energy allocated to it.