By Dipo Olowookere
One of the leading electricity distribution companies in Nigeria, Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC), has expressed regret at the poor power supply to its customers in Mowe, Ibafo and Magboro areas of Ogun State.
The firm, in a statement, stated that the reason for the abysmal service to the communities is partly because of the low allocation of energy to them by the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN).
IBEDC, which took responsibility for the frustrating situation, explained further that the three communities get their supply from Oke-Aro 132KV/33KV transmission station, while allocation to the station from TCN is just 13 MW.
According to the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of IBEDC, Engr. John Ayodele, the three communities require about 40 MW of energy to serve them.
He said because the TCN cannot allocate the energy required to serve all the customers at the communities, the only option at this time is to deploy intensive load management, thereby ensuring that customers have equal hours of daily supply.
“Another major challenge is that the 33KV, which is a straight network, is solely under the control of the TCN.
“Whenever there is a fault, the normal routine is that our Engineers must get approval from the TCN before repairs can commence and this process is a bit challenging.
“Also, depending on the nature of the fault and the terrain of the network affected the process becomes more cumbersome” Engr. Ayodele explained.
He further explained that IBEDC is working on the reconstruction of the old Owode-Egba network to enable some of the communities’ benefit from the newly commissioned Abeokuta Transmission Station at Kobape.
“We are also appealing to our unmetered customers in this locality to take advantage of the Meter Asset Provider Scheme (MAP) to get metered.
“Our staff are on strict schedules to ensure that customers issues are promptly addressed,” he said.
