Benin Electricity Distribution Company Plc. (BEDC) said it was considering alternative sources of power supply, aside the national grid, to end the power problem in its covering areas.
The Managing Director of the BEDC,Henry Ajagbawa,who disclosed this when he led the company management team on a courtesy visit to the palace of the Olu of Warri, His Majesty, Ogiame Atuwatse III in Warri,explained that the consideration of the independent sources of power became necessary, due to the constraints in the generation end of the electricity value chain in the country.
He expressed fears over non-payment for energy consumed by the customers in its franchise states in Nigeria.
“I think Nigerians are tired of excuses. Everywhere you go there is no power and the era of explanation is long gone.Today, we have constraints from the generation part of the value chain, we are getting less than 40 per cent of what we require to be able to sell to our communities.
“The average customers do not care what happens because all they want is electricity.There are alternative sources apart from the grid and we want to begin to engage those sources to see how we can begin to alleviate the problems we have today.
“But the crisis of non-payment is also an issue. If am able to bring independent sources, can I get assurance that there will be payment?,” he said.
Explaining his team’s reason for the visit, Ajagbawa said:”We are in the palace to solicit your royal blessings to enlighten and engage the people on what we want to do to get them power.Your Royal Majesty, we would be needing your support as we engage communities to see how we can start enumeration so that we will know the number of people we will be serving”
Speaking,the company’s board chairman, Mr Pastor Kings Akuma, told the monarch that the BEDC team came on board last September to rescue Benin Disco from the wrath and the wreckage that had bedeviled the company.
He said:”Our priority and focus is to pay homage to the first class kings, in our franchise states that include Delta, Edo, Ondo and Ekiti. The essence of our visit today is to seek the blessings and support of our Royal Majesties and to assure our customers in Warri and its environs of our readiness to meet their electricity supply as at when needed”.
The Olu of Warri, His Majesty, Ogiame Atuwatse III, who welcomed the BEDC team to the palace,implored the federal government to open up the electricity value chain for more participation and urged them to find solution to the infrastructural deficit in the value chain.
The monarch advised the new management of the power firm to engage his subjects to make them have full understanding of how the alternative power sources would be operated.
