08 February 2014, Enugu – The South East zone of the country currently receives 300 megawatts of power as against the needed 3000 megawatts due to inadequate gas supply, Chief Executive Officer of Enugu Electricity Distribution Company, Mr. Robert Dickerman has said.
This is as the sub-station to address epileptic power supply in Asaba and its environs will come on stream in April when the installation of the 150 MVA auto transformer would have been completed.
The quantity of supply which represents 10 per cent of the power needs of the region has been worsened by what the Enugu Disco said was meter bypass by consumers which informs their move to distribute pre-paid meters in the zone.
Dickerman who said they were investigating whether the bypass of meters were technical or sabotage, observed that they were not billing any customer for power not consumes, pointing out that unless the issue was arrested, they may soon be out of business.
“We however know that this method might not exactly reflect the actual bill a customer incurred but they should also realise that most of them are undercharged. The South-East zone of the country receives only 300 megawatts of electricity instead of the required 3,000 due to issues of natural gas supply from the upstream power sector”, he noted.
He said in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State where he led a team to visit Governor Martins Elechi that the company would introduce new pre-paid metering programme that would check meter bye-pass by customers.
He noted that the company would device a new programme to that would promote the metering system’s integrity as the high rate of the bye-pass was affecting the services rendered to customers.
According to him “This development might put the company out of business if care is not taken, as we would discover whether the bye-pass is due to faulty technological process, fraud from our contractors, staff or customers etc”.
Elechi , who apologised to the company for the debts owed by the state government advised the company to ensure that its billing method is addressed as it is most times controversial and make inconvenience customers.
The Asaba substation, located along Ibusa / Ogwashi-Uku express way and being undertaken by National Integrated Power Project (NIPP) will come on stream in April this year.
The project Manager of AK-AY Elektrick Ltd, Mr. OdinakachukwuAmobi, told journalist yesterday that with the receipt of a 150 MVA auto transformer at the site, economic activities in the area, which had been at its lowest ebb in the recent times would pick up as soon as the step down from the national grid is completed.
“We are at the peak of the work, at least 90 per cent of it has been completed, with the auto transformer here, be rest assured that Asaba and its environs will have regular power supply”, he said.
– This Day
