The Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company has explained that vandalism and theft of electricity infrastructure remain major issues that negatively impact power supply.
According to The PUNCH, this was made known by the spokesperson of IBEDC Busolami Tunwase in a statement on Sunday.
The management of the DisCo said it would like to communicate the issues to foster understanding and reassure its customers of its commitment to finding lasting solutions.
The factors, it said, include low gas supply to generating companies, vandalism, energy theft and routine maintenance works by the Transmission Company of Nigeria.
“One of the primary factors is the low supply of gas to generating companies which has led to a gradual decrease in available generation into the grid. This has significantly reduced the power available on the transmission grid for onward supply to IBEDC, and in turn, greatly hindered our ability to provide power to customers within our franchise, namely Oyo, Ogun, Osun, Kwara, and partly in Kogi, Niger and Ekiti states,” the IBEDC said.
It stated further that scheduled maintenance activities conducted by the TCN in January and March 2024 necessitated planned outages in specific areas of its network.
“While these measures are essential for ensuring the long-term reliability of electricity infrastructure, we recognise the inconvenience they may cause and sincerely apologise for any disruptions experienced by our customers,” the company pleaded.
The IBEDC recalled the vandalism of TCN towers in Ogun State in May 2023, which it said resulted in over seven months of darkness for many of its customers.
It would be recalled that the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, had recently summoned the IBEDC to a meeting over the worsening power supply in its area of coverage, even as he threatened to revoke the licences of non-performing power distribution companies.
