By CHIMEZIE ANASO

Anambra-owned FirstPower Electricity Distribution Company (FpEDC), has appealed to customers to bear with it over the poor power supply in the state, saying the problem is not its fault.

FpEDC made the appeal in a statement signed by Mr Izunna Okafor, Head of Communications on Thursday in Awka.

Okafor said the drop in supply was as a result of nationwide generation challenges and not for operational failure.

He said that electricity distribution companies operated only at the final stage of the electricity value chain and did not have a role in the generation of power or in determining how much electricity was transmitted to states.

According to him, electricity distributed in Anambra is generated elsewhere in the country and transmitted through the national grid before reaching the interface stations that supply the state.

“Whenever national electricity generation declines, the amount allocated to every distribution company across Nigeria automatically drops.

“Nigeria has recently been experiencing a major reduction in electricity generation due to a severe shortage of natural gas supply to thermal power plants which produce the bulk of electricity on Nigeria’s national grid.

“This was worsened by the disruption caused by an explosion on the Escravos-Lagos gas pipeline in December last year, an incident that affected the operations of several gas-fired power plants,” he said.

Okafor said another problem facing operators in the sector was the huge debts owed to generation companies within the electricity market.

He said the liabilities which were estimated at about N6 trillion had significantly weakened the ability of power producers to procure adequate gas required to operate their power plants optimally.

“The ongoing Israel/US-Iran War has caused immediate scarcity of and spike in prices of petroleum products and this is further complicating the issue in Nigeria’s energy sector.

“Thermal plants rely heavily on natural gas to generate electricity, the shortage has forced several generating units to shut down or operate below their installed capacity,” he said.

On the planned protest by customers in Anambra, FpEDC said it recognised that they had the constitutional right to express their feelings but appealed to them to understand the challenges of the company.

He said protests directed at distribution companies may not yield the desired results as the root causes of electricity shortage lay with the generation which was beyond the control of the distribution company.

He however, reassured customers that FirstPower was committed to transparency, fair billing, regulatory compliance and improved customer engagement in Anambra.

According to him, once national electricity generation improves and allocations increase, supply to Anambra State will also improve correspondingly”. (NAN, but headline rejigged)

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