Infrastructure, Vandalism, Low Generation Responsible For Poor Power Supply – IBEDC

The Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) has attributed the dilapidating power infrastructure, vandalism at critical installations, drop in the national grid, and other factors as responsible for the low power supply experienced at its franchise.

In a statement on Sunday, Busolami Tunwase, Lead Media Relations of IBEDC, explained that the company, in partnership with the federal government, was working on ways to improve the condition of the situation, which has been recurrent in the last few weeks.

The DISCO is of the opinion that issues relating to the low supply of gas to generating companies, vandalism and theft of infrastructure as well as payment apathy from customers are of serious concern, which if not urgently addressed will further complicate the present situation.

It was however optimistic that ongoing efforts at reforming the power sector will bring huge relief to Nigerians, especially customers in its franchise.

IBEDC said, “One of the primary factors is the low supply of gas to generating companies (Gencos) 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 (TCN) 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 major issues negatively impacting power supply. An example is the unfortunate vandalism of TCN towers in Ogun State in May 2023, which resulted in over 7 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 the adequate supply of power to customers because they result in revenue losses and liquidity problems for the electricity value chain. We have also noticed an alarming upsurge, with over 1,450 identified cases of energy theft between January and February 2024.

“Lastly, payment apathy from customers is a major challenge to adequate supply of power. Unfortunately, across our customer segments, we have different mindsets that electricity is a social service and should not be paid for; some only pay part of the bill, while others don’t pay because they haven’t received their preferred of supply. To all our customers, our appeal is simple, please pay for whatever hours of supply you have consumed in addition to the outstanding bills to enable IBEDC to survive and become sustainable as this is the guarantee for improved power supply.

“Despite these challenges, we remain optimistic that poor supply will soon become a thing of the past as the Honorable Minister of Power, Chief Adebayo Adelabu, has taken urgent steps to address the gas supply issue. On energy theft and vandalism, we are currently partnering with security agencies to reduce this vice, however, we urge our customers to remain vigilant, protect electrical infrastructure within their communities, and report any suspicious activities promptly.

“We are implementing comprehensive measures to improve and strengthen our infrastructure to efficiently distribute the power we receive from the grid. We are also urgently exploring alternate sources of power to enable us to meet the power supply needed within our franchise,” IBEDC concluded.