…Empathizes with its customers

By CHARLES IWUOHA

The Enugu Electricity Distribution Company PLC (EEDC) has explained that the prolonged power outage which has affected the whole of Imo State, occasioned by the industrial action by organized labour is beyond its control, while empathizing with its customers in the state.

This was made known in a statement issued by the Head of Corporate Communications, EEDC, Mr. Emeka Ezeh, on Thursday.

Ezeh described the situation which has lasted for nine days as unfortunate and explained that with EEDC’s source of power which is at Egbu Transmission Station shut down by the Labour Union, there was no way the company could get power to distribute to its customers in Imo State.

“We can only distribute the power that we receive from TCN Stations, and in this case, the station catering for our customers in Imo State has been shut down by the Labour Union.”

He acknowledged the untold hardship and inconveniences this development has caused the company, its staff residing in the state and esteemed customers in Imo State and expressed hope that the parties involved will resolve the issue so that normalcy can return to the state.

The EEDC spokesman stressed that the company is handicapped, losing revenue running into millions of Naira, and cannot do much in this circumstance.

“As a Distribution Company, our primary source of supply is from the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) Stations, and once there is disruption in the chain, we won’t be able to deliver service to our customers,” Ezeh explained.

Ezeh allayed the fears of customers who are concerned that they might be billed for the period they were out of supply, emphasizing that the company does not bill for service not rendered.

“The impact of the power outage currently experienced will reflect on the December bill, which will be for energy consumed in the month of November.

“Whereas the November bill, which is for energy that has been consumed in the month of October, has to be paid for by the customers, as it has no relation with the current power situation being experienced.”

Ezeh urged customers to remain vigilant and ensure that the transformer and other electricity infrastructure serving them are protected, as vandals might want to take advantage of the outage to attack the equipment.

It will be recalled that last week, organised labour union in Imo State shut down Egbu Transmission Station, which is EEDC’s source of electricity supply, thereby leaving it with no energy to distribute to its customers, a development that has put the whole of Imo State in darkness.

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