30 June 2015, Lagos – The management of Eko Electricity Distribution Company, EKEDC,has urged consumers within its franchise network to prepare for adjustment in electricity tariffs. The Chief Executive Officer, EKEDC, Mr Oladele Amoda, stated this at a stakeholders’ meeting with electricity consumers from the 11 Business Units under its jurisdiction in Lagos.
The meeting followed a directive by the Chairman, Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, Dr Sam Amadi, who mandated distribution companies, DISCOs, to consult with their consumers in establishing a new tariff regime. The NERC boss had noted that whatever tariff the companies proposed would still be subjected to the approval of the Commission.
Meanwhile, Amoda disclosed that EKEDC has embarked on several activities to mitigate the challenges and improve the quality of service to consumers. According to him, “We are working assiduously to explore other sources of power supply. Presently, the only source of bulk power is from the National Grid, which is grossly inadequate, inefficient and unreliable.
“We understand the plight of our consumers and commenced a process which will augment the power we are currently allocated from the National Grid. “EKEDC targets about700 Megawatts through our Embedded Independent Power Projects, EIPPs, and bilateral agreement with existing merchant generators,” he said.
Amodaadded that the company had earmarked a CAPEX investment of $250 million, about N50 billion, in the next five years to deal with all the issues, even as more than N10 billion was expended on projects on network and system improvement. He disclosed that the company had developed a robust metering plan, which if approved by NERC would enable them to step-up installation activities in the next few years.
– Vanguard
