The Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC), one of the electricity distribution companies in the Republic of Nigeria, has rejected claims that the privatization of the country’s power sector has turned out to be a failure, according to report filed by businesspost.ng.
Addressing journalists Tuesday, the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of IBEDC, Mr. John Ayodele, said the company and others were making progress despite the challenges.
Describing the challenges faced by Discos, Mr. Ayodele noted that IBEDC records a deficit of N4 billion monthly stating that between January and July 2021, it has recorded 15,032 cases of vandalisation of distribution assets.
Mr. Ayodele said the money paid by customers to the company also goes to generating (GENCO) and transmission companies operating in the sector as well.
He maintained that IBEDC does not have the full power to reduce the tariff, stressing that stakeholders must unanimously agree to review power tariffs in the country.
On the efforts of the company towards effective service delivery, he said the electricity distributing company, has been investing heavily in the sector.
He disclosed that the company has added 2,632 distribution substations to its network, rehabilitated 39 dilapidated substations, replaced two failed power stations and 381 distribution transformers.
The company reconstructed six new 33 kilovolt (kV) and six new 11 kV outgoing feeders, rehabilitated 22 high tensions and 52 low tension overhead lines.
Mr Ayodele said the company has made progress on Asset and Customer Enumeration; an exercise that has made it possible to correctly capture the active consumer base of the company and aided the Distribution Transformer (DT) metering project.
According to him, the company has ensured that 50 per cent of IBEDC DT meters are smartly metered, adding that metering would aid management and solve problems of accountability of energy.
He explained that the organisation has been working on improving occupational and safety management systems and initiated e-billing which enables effective delivery of bills to postpaid customers via SMS and Email.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
