Following the threat of licence revocation by the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, to electricity Distribution Companies (Discos) over the state of poor power supply in the country, Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC), on Sunday gave reasons for the state of the erratic power supply within its franchise.
The IBEDC, in a statement, explained that one of the primary factors for the problem is the low supply of gas to generating companies (Gencos), which has led to a gradual decrease in available generation into the grid. This, the Dosco said, has significantly reduced the power available on the transmission grid for onward supply to IBEDC, and in turn, hindered its ability to provide power to customers within its franchise in Oyo, Ogun, Osun, Kwara and partly in Kogi, Niger and Ekiti states.
Besides, the firm blamed the scheduled maintenance conducted by the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) in January and March, this year, as necessitating planned outages in specific areas on her network. While the firm agreed that the measures were essential for ensuring the long-term reliability of electricity infrastructure, it recognised the inconvenience and disruption to service they may cause.
Vandalism and theft of electricity infrastructure remains a major issue negatively impacting power supply. An example is the unfortunate vandalism of TCN towers in Ogun State in May 2023, which resulted in over seven months of darkness for many of our valued customers. At IBEDC we are particularly confronted with, the escalating cases of vandalism, with over 40 incidents recorded in 2024 alone.”
