The Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) has expressed apprehension over the escalating challenges adversely affecting power supply and highlighted critical issues, including a shortage in gas supply, maintenance crisis and a surge in vandalism, which are significant impediments to ensuring a consistent and reliable power distribution.
The distribution company (DisCo) stressed that several factors have contributed to the current state of the power supply in its franchise, resulting in disruptions and inconveniences for residents and businesses.
The company, in a statement signed by the management, stated that raising concerns over the issues is aimed at fostering understanding and reassuring customers of its commitment to finding lasting solutions, “hence the urgent need for collaborative efforts to address the multifaceted challenges and fortify the power infrastructure for the benefit of consumers.
“One of the primary factors is the low supply of gas to generating companies (GenCos) 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.”
It emphasized that the scheduled maintenance activities carried out by the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) in January and March required planned outages in specific areas of their network and that measures are essential for ensuring the long-term reliability of electricity infrastructure.
“Vandalism and theft of electricity infrastructures 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 7 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.
“The theft of valuable assets such as transformer oil, cables and aluminum conductors pose a significant challenge to our operations, as communities affected are thrown into extended periods of outage depending on the severity of the act. Energy theft through illegal connections, meter bypass and illicit meters are also major issues affecting adequate supply of power to customers because they result in revenue losses and liquidity problems for the electricity value chain. We have also noticed an alarming upsurge, with over 1,450 identified cases of energy theft between January and February 2024,” it stated.
