By STANLEY NWANOSIKE

The Management of Mainpower Electricity Distribution Limited (MEDL) has attributed the recent power outage in parts of Enugu State to a significant drop in energy allocation.

This was disclosed in a statement issued on Monday in Enugu by the company?s spokesman, Mr Emeka Ezeh.

According to the statement, the drop in supply from MEDL?s parent company, the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC), has persisted for over four days due to reduced allocation from the national grid.

?Mainpower wishes to inform its customers in parts of Enugu State who have been experiencing power outages that the situation is due to a significant drop in energy allocation from our parent company, EEDC,? the statement read.

?This development is a result of the recent issuance of a new Tariff Order to Mainpower by the Enugu Electricity Regulatory Commission (EERC).

The order reduced the tariff for Band A customers from N209.50/kWh to N160.40/kWh.

?Upon receipt of the Tariff Order, MEDL, by obligation, promptly updated EEDC (our energy supplier).

?After analysing the implications of the new tariff, EEDC concluded that implementing it will result in a monthly loss of over N1 billion, which makes it impossible for EEDC to meet her obligations to the Market,? it said.

According to the statement, consequently and to mitigate these losses, EEDC made the difficult decision to reduce the volume of energy supplied to Mainpower.

The statement noted that the development had unfortunately resulted in Mainpower receiving only about 50 per cent of its usual energy allocation, significantly affecting our ability to serve some of our esteemed customers.

?It is important to clarify that Mainpower does not receive electricity directly from National Grid.

?Instead, we rely solely on EEDC, which holds the vesting contract agreement with the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading (NBET), the organisation responsible for electricity bulk trading.

?We deeply regret the inconvenience this situation has caused our valued customers.

?Please be assured that discussions are ongoing with key stakeholders at the state and federal levels (including EEDC, EERC, NERC, NISO, and NBET) to quickly resolve this issue.

?We are hopeful that a resolution will be reached within the next 48 hours or soon thereafter,? it said.

It also acknowledged that the communication was coming later than expected due to delay in the short notice with which the company received the full details of the recent development.

?We appeal for your continued patience, calm and understanding as we work diligently with the relevant authorities to restore normal service as soon as possible,? he said. (NAN)

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