The Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC) has identified nine major challenges militating against stable power supply in the South-East.

The Head of Communications of the company, Mr Emeka Ezeh, said this in a statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Enugu on Wednesday.

Ezeh listed vandalism, energy theft, accidental destruction of power facilities, meter bypass, illegal connections and reconnections as the recurring challenges facing the organisation.

He said the other challenges included the non-payment of electricity bills, attack on EEDC field officers and tampering with electrical installations.

He said that the company had identified certain areas of focus and mapped out strategic plans to tackle them.

The EEDC spokesman said that the company would soon embark on the upgrade of some transformers and relieve the overloaded ones.

He said: “The Company has also installed entirely new sub-stations, while overhauling some weak networks for quality electricity supply.

“There are also plans to de-load some feeders and construct more injection sub-stations to boost electricity supply in identified locations within the network.

“As a matter of fact, contract has been awarded for the construction of a 7.5MVA Injection Sub-station at ABS, Awka.

Ezeh said that the facility would service customers in ABS environs, Okpuno, Enugu Agidi, Awka Urban, Zik Avenue and parts of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, all in Anambra.

He said that EEDC had also approved the upgrade of Agu Awka Injection Sub-station in Anambra from 7.5MVA to 15MVA.

He said that the company had placed an order for the power transformer which is expected to be delivered before the end of the month.

“This will improve supply to customers at Agu Awka, industrial Area, Amansea, Nkwere Awka, Ifite Awka, Nnamdi Azikiwe University permanent site and its environs,” Eze said.

He also said that the management of the company had engaged the services of some private contractors to handle the repair of faulty transformers in the zone.

Ezeh further said that the asset registration and customer enumeration exercise was still ongoing in the area.

He appealed to electricity consumers to give maximum cooperation to the enumerators, saying that the exercise was designed to make EEDC more efficient in service delivery.

“All these efforts to attain greater efficiency cannot be effectively actualised without the support and cooperation of our esteemed customers,” he added.

Ezeh said that improved electricity supply in the South-East would boost business and socio-economic activities.

“EEDC is soliciting the continued support of its stakeholders and customers to achieve its target,” he said. (NAN)

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