The Managing Director of Benin Electricity Distribution Company, BEDC, Mrs Funke Osibodu has revealed that her company, which took over power distribution from the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria in November 2013, also inherited a whooping N25.3 billion in debts. Osibodu in Benin said that the company needs N45 billion over a sustained period of five years to function effectively. Osibodu, who stated that the companys first four months of operation was a period of shadow operation, in which they tried to understand the terrain, as well as intimate themselves with the challenges facing the power distribution sector, and how to tackle them. She also revealed that of the 2,500-4,000 megawatts of power available to Nigeria, 650 megawatts was available to BEDC which covers Edo, Delta, Ondo and Ekiti states, but grossly inadequate for consumers: the Benin Electricity Distribution Company of Nigeria uses 650 megawatts of power, it of the 2,500 to 4,000 available; and they is grossly inadequate for the 150 million people in Nigeria. She further noted that there are 77 local governments under the BEDC, with 3.7 million households, 13.2 million population. However, according to her, statistics show that only 700,000 consumers use power. Presenting a paper on the journey of the new company so far, the managing director restated her companys commitment to supplying constant electricity to consumers, explaining they have surmounted some of the challenges they met on ground. She listed some of them: aged, undersized and over extended high and low tension feeders, over billing of customers, no service orientation, staff illegally collecting money, illegal connections. Others include power theft, inadequate metering, inadequate power supply, low level of information available, poor health and safety practice, poor maintenance practice and others. The companys main challenges she reasoned, include over 8000 backlog of metres paid by customers under the previous regime; high volume of estimated billing, liabilities from PHCN, and power theft, saying only 48% of consumers pay for the power they consume. Osibodu therefore enjoined their customers to assist them in providing effective power to them.
Posted on: Sun, 16 Mar 2014 14:58:11 +0000
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