Kano Electricity Distribution Plc (KEDCO), one of the power distribution companies in the Federal Republic of Nigeria, has seen steady improvement in its financial and business performance following the restoration of power supply in the West African nation.
Nigeria, in recent times, has suffered multiple blackouts as a result of attacks by vandals on TCN power infrastructure.
This negatively impacted September–October 2024 billing and collection cycle of most DisCos.
KEDCO, alongside three other distribution companies in the North East and North West, had significant disruption to power supply in October, with KEDCO being the worst hit.
A statement issued by Sani Bala Sani, Head of Corporate Communications at KEDCO, said the company’s operations were initially impacted on October 13, 2024, with only 40 per cent of our grid allocation being supplied after the Shiroro-Kaduna 330kV line incident, further exacerbated by a total blackout on October 20, 2024, the peak of revenue collection cycle.
He said, “Although the power supply was partially restored to a 40 per cent level on 30th October, we were only availed with up to around 85 per cent supply levels on November 14 and anxiously awaiting completion of the Shiroro-Kaduna repairs.
“Regrettably, the incident presented us with our worst market performance this year. Having zero grid supply posed significant financial and economic challenges for KEDCO and its customers, with many customers resorting to costly backup sources or shutting down operations.
“In our best-performing months, our ATC&C losses parameter was sharply down by over 20 per cent to a record of 40 per cent and we plan to return to those levels,” he said.
” With the current power supply at around 85 per cent, we have recorded significant collections from last month’s arrears and appealing to our customers to continue to cooperate with us on prompt settlement of their current bills and arrears, for business sustainability,” he added.
He commended the resilience of their customers and vowed to continue to improve the performance in supplying them with safe and reliable electricity.
Sani Bala Sani also thanked the Honourable Minister for Power for his timely intervention and visit during the crisis to understand their challenges.
He equally acknowledged TCN’s restoration efforts and appreciate the Federal Government’s commitment to helping improve the redundancy and safety of the National Grid.
“It remains our core investor and Board’s resolve to continue to drive investments and improved performance through embedded generation supply options in our network via the Safe Grid and Utility 2.0 projects in collaboration with our tri-state governments, under the guidance of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), it is vital to appeal for our customers’ continued cooperation to actualize that vision,” he concluded.
Source https//energynewsafrica.com
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