Some state governments in the South East have embarked on ways to get alternative sources of electricity supply following the incessant collapse of the national grid.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the national grid has collapsed no fewer than seven times between January and October 2024, a situation worrisome to electricity consumers and the nation at large.
NAN survey on the development showed that customers have continued to groan over constant grid collapse and epileptic power supply despite paying more for electricity services.
Most of the customers within Anambra, Ebonyi and Enugu States, who have been “systematically” moved to Band-A without their consent, are pushing for the reverse to the former band as they complain of “not getting value for money”.
An Enugu-based small-scale industrialist, Chimezie Nwafor, said that within the past month, it had been difficult to run his factory at maximum capacity as most of his machinery required voltage of power directly from electricity.
Nwafor noted that he welcomed the 24-hour uninterrupted power, simply called Band-A, but “it is now a regret that the Electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos) and the Federal Government regulatory body failed to live up to what they assured”.
“The Federal and state governments should put efforts to make constant electricity power supply possible. It is doable and other countries of the world even within African countries have attained this height.
“Every industrialist wants value for money and we cannot get that if we pay so high a tariff and get disappointed,” he said.
A resident within the Uwani area, Chuks Ani, whose area has been placed on Band-A recently, noted that the government always implement noble policies in the wrong way.
“As discussed in various electricity stakeholders and Town Hall meetings for years now, a 24-hour uninterrupted power supply should be provided for industrial and commercial concerns or areas and not the other way round to residential areas.
“As it stands, one wonders whether the government genuinely want to check poverty as well as solve the energy crisis in homes and rural communities with clear-cut policies beneficial to all.
“The current policy and target of putting financially struggling families and households to Band-A and its attendant high tariff is suffocating,” Ani said.
On its part, Dr. Ernest Mupwaya, Acting Managing Director of the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC), said the company had deployed advanced ICT systems to constantly monitor its network; detecting upcoming and instant electrical faults within its franchise area.
“Over some years now, we have strengthened all our lines and tightened all loose ends as well as clear obstructions to our lines within our franchise area leading to stable and better supply,” he said.
He noted that with clear knowledge of the industry moving towards 24-hour uninterrupted supply, the company had successfully converted aluminium transformers to copper-wound transformers using reverse engineering.
The acting managing director said that reverse engineering on transformers had stabilised supply and allowed transformers to stand a prolonged workload each day.
“This groundbreaking innovation has the potential for significant cost savings (for both the company and its customers),” he added.
Having issued a license to Mainpower Electricity Distribution Limited, the Chairman, Enugu State Electricity Regulatory Commission (EERC), Mr Chijioke Okonkwo, said that with the Enugu State Electrification Law 2023 and electrification master plan, the state would be a hub for electricity generation and distribution.
It could be recalled that recently, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, finally handed over regulatory power to the EERC.
With the development, Mainpower, a subsidiary of the EEDC, took over the electricity distribution operations in Enugu State after it was presented with an interim operating license to distribute electricity in Enugu State by EERC.
Okonkwo said that the issues of grid failure and epileptic supply would be a thing of the past as soon as the commission had developed a robust commercially viable, sustainable and reliable electricity market that served all the residents and industrial/commercial clusters.
He said that market feasibility had shown that Enugu State had the market viability not only to generate its electricity consumption but the capacity to sell to other states and entities.
“What made the state lucrative for investment in the energy market is the high percentage of the underserved and unserved population that need energy to run their businesses,” he said.
According to him, with investors playing in the electricity market in the state, the energy needs of the population would be solved while return on investment would be guaranteed since there exist willing buyers in the under-explored market.
In Anambra, Julius Chukwuemeka, Commissioner for Power and Water Resources Anambra said that the state government was putting in place measures that would reduce its dependence on power from the national grid.
Chukwuemeka, who described the national grid source as “no longer sustainable” given its persistent failures, said legislative frameworks were on for a law to set up the Anambra Power Market and Anambra State Electricity Regulatory Commission.
He said both laws would help determine the energy demand of the state as well as prepare the ground for electricity generation in the state.
The commissioner said the government was encouraging an energy mix with an emphasis on solar and renewable energy options.
“These options may be expensive at the point of installation but they have long-term cost and reliability benefits.
“These energy mix options will take households and small businesses away from the national grid, and leave Industries and heavy equipment users on the hydro and thermal-powered national grid supply,” he said.
Meanwhile, residents of the state have expressed frustration over the incessant collapse of the national grid.
Jude Anyene, an artisan, said the loss of power was putting additional costs on their businesses.
Anyene said there was no justification for the high and differential tariff charged by electricity distribution companies because every customer was in darkness.
“The solution to our electricity challenges is not charging exorbitant tariffs or putting people in different bands just to make them pay more.
“We have a power generation problem, there is not enough to go around and the infrastructure is decaying such that so much is lost in transmission,” he said.
Expressing the same frustration, Caleb Agbo, an electricity stakeholder in Abakaliki, Ebonyi, stressed the need for constant discourse among electricity stakeholders to address the frequent collapse in the system.
Agbo called on major stakeholders and the government to show more commitment to energy security in the country.
Collins Odumba, another stakeholder, urged the Federal Government to overhaul and review the entire energy sector of the country and get investors that have the capacity to deliver and ensure constant power supply.
Emmanuel Ogodo, an electricity consumer living in Abakaliki, encouraged the government to make prepaid meters available at a reduced cost.
“The cost of acquiring a three-phase prepaid meter is between N150,000 and N200,000; while a single phase costs between N100,000 and N150,000,” Ogodo claimed.
Kingsley Oko, a business owner, noted that the activities of vandals and corrupt officials also contributed to the breakdown and constant collapse of the national grid.
“The power outage has continued to disrupt my business venture. If this trend continues, more businesses will crash,” Oko said.