Electricity Distribution Companies, DisCos and the Transmission Company of Nigeria, TCN, have attributed the erratic power supply in the country to vandalization of the equipment and low supply from generation companies, owing to inadequate gas supply to power plants.
A statement by the General Manager, Public Affairs, Ndidi Mbah, explained that low generation was the factor behind the lack of supply to homes and businesses.
Also reports say that the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company, IBEDC, Sunday, also blamed vandalism of electricity assets as well as scheduled maintenance by TCN for the rationing going on in its franchise area.
The company said: “One of the primary factors is the low supply of gas to generating companies which has led to a gradual decrease in available generation into the grid.
“This has significantly reduced the power available on the transmission grid for onward supply to IBEDC, and in turn, greatly hindered our ability to provide power to customers within our franchise, namely Oyo, Ogun, Osun, Kwara and partly in Kogi, Niger and Ekiti states.
“Secondly, scheduled maintenance activities conducted by the Transmission Company of Nigeria in January and March, 2024 necessitated planned outages in specific areas of our network.
‘’While these measures are essential for ensuring the long-term reliability of electricity infrastructure, we recognize the inconvenience they may cause and sincerely apologize for any disruptions experienced by our customers.
“Furthermore, vandalism and theft of electricity infrastructure remain a major issue negatively impacting power supply. An example is the unfortunate vandalism of TCN towers in Ogun State in May 2023, which resulted in over seven months of darkness for many of our valued customers.
“At IBEDC we are particularly confronted with the escalating cases of vandalism, with over 40 incidents recorded in 2024 alone. The theft of valuable assets such as transformer oil, cables and aluminum conductors poses a significant challenge to our operations, as communities affected are thrown into extended periods of outage depending on the severity of the act.
“Energy theft through illegal connections, meter bypass and illicit meters are also major issues affecting adequate supply of power to customers, because they result in revenue losses and liquidity problems for the electricity value chain.
With reports from the Vanguard