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From Uche Usim, Abuja
When 18 utility firms under the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) were privatised in 2014, Nigerians thought the epileptic electricity supply nightmare would be addressed.
Unfortunately, over three years after the exercise, customers’ expectations are yet to be met, even as the issue of voltage surge and electrocution is said to be on the rise.
In dissecting the power situation in the country, several surveys have pointed to high expectations in the resolution of customers’ challenges including metering, power outages, safe and efficient network, improved customer services and a fair tariff/billing system.
However, 43 months after privatisation, some sections of customers insist they are yet to enjoy the benefits of the exercise, which anchored on steady power supply at a reasonable cost.
Though the Generating Companies (Gencos) have recorded increase in power generation, consumers say they are yet to feel the impact of that. Industry records show power generation was at 3,800 megawatts (mw) at takeover and now, it is just above 4,000mw with an available capacity of 8,500mw. Transmission is now about 5,000mw wheeling capacity and the distribution network capability is about 4,000mw.
The operators of Distribution Companies (Discos) in their Performance Agreements with the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), have investment targets of five years to reduce the Aggregate Technical, Collection and Commercial (ATC&C) losses, speed up metering of customers and phase out estimated billing, and strengthen their networks to reduce electrical accidents. It is just 17 months closer to the target expiration and many customers are concerned as they are yet to see pointers to these anticipated improvements.
According to the Executive Secretary of the Association of Power Generating Companies (APGC), Dr. Joy Ogaji, the post-privatisation power challenge stems from the fact that the Federal Government gave private entities a very crucial sector of the economy but did not put in place a sound monitoring agency.
“So one of the problems is lack of monitoring. Until the Federal Government puts together an impartial, unbiased, knowledgeable, strict and independent agency or body or consultancy to monitor these firms along with their performance agreements, business agreements and licensing terms, we will not have the results as much as we expect.
“Secondly, we must have an independent regulator. If today the regulator wants to implement sanction and he gets a call from the high and mighty not to do it, it becomes incapacitated. So we need a regulator that wields the big stick as we see in other jurisdictions.
“Thirdly, we must understand that power is no longer a social infrastructure. The Federal Government should inform Nigerians that power is like the telecommunication sector now. They should use electricity as a luxury good only if they can afford it, it is no longer a social good. Fourthly, we should separate politics from electricity. In some quarters, they call it corruption but I prefer to call it politics,” she explained.
Rains come, outages occur
Traditionally, the early and late rains bring to Nigerians memory of incessant and prolonged power outages. Research shows that such was the practice during the NEPA/PHCN days. With privatisation, it was naturally expected that such gloomy days should have been long gone.
Power experts insist any prudent operator should take into cognisance the integrity or strength of the materials for electrical poles, the sizing/material of the conductor used, the type of insulators used on poles, disconnection and isolation switches, transformer specification/installation and other auxiliary equipment to ensure they can withstand thunder strikes, lightening and heavy rains.
Industry analysts have, however, attributed the constant power outages experienced recently, especially as the rainy season peaks, to aged and poorly maintained distribution networks, which have remained in the same state since takeover. Experts have maintained that the seemingly poor performance of the Discos appears to have been overlooked by the authorities for reasons not too clear to Nigerians.
About four years after takeover, there has been no remarkable improvement in distribution infrastructure leading up to daily failure of electrical poles, transformers and related switch gears.
Residential customers who spoke on this issue across five Discos expressed dissatisfaction about this. To them, once there are signs of rain, the network trips off.
Mr. Maxwell Okunbor, a customer in Nyanya, FCT, said customers can predict that electricity will go off once the cloud gathers. “Last Friday, the cloud was setting and 30 minutes before the rain, power was out in the entire Nyanya. We have been seeing more of that since the rainy season intensified; this is not so in other African countries where they have robust lines and networks,” he said.
In a similar vein, Dr. Okechukwu Chibuike, a medical doctor in Makurdi town under Jos Disco said once the lines trip off without notice, some heavy medical equipment also go off and disrupt operations of his hospital. He said officials of the Disco serving his area told him that it was for safety reasons that the ‘requested outage’ occurs to avoid electrocution as some lines could fall off.
A transmission expert, Anyebe Mike, raised concerns about this. He attributed the outage to inefficiencies in the Discos’ networks, adding that the Gencos do not shutdown plants when it rains.
He said, “this is part of the ATC&C losses we talk of. When the Discos do outage because of rain, the Gencos work and then the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) suffers it due to high frequency caused by Discos’ load rejection.
“It was expected that after privatisation, the Discos who had claimed technical and commercial competence prior to bidding and hence takeover, performed all the technical audit and also asset integrity management to know the true nature of the distribution network.”
Talking to some generation companies, Mainstream and Geregu, for instance, complained bitterly on operating below their optimal level.
