The Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC) has declared that the current power outage, which is a result of the fallout of a strike action by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), is beyond its control.
This disclosure was contained in a statement issued by the Head of Corporate Communication for EEDC, Mr Emeka Ezeh, in Owerri on Thursday.
Nairametrics gathered that the organised labour in Imo, on Tuesday, Nov. 1, shut down Egbu Transmission Station which supplies electricity to the state. This has left the transmission station with no energy to distribute to its customers, thereby causing Imo State to be left in total blackout.
What EEDC is saying
Ezeh explained that with the shutdown of the Egbu Transmission Station, which is EEDC’s source of power, there was no way the company could get power to distribute to its customers in Imo.
- “We can only distribute the power that we receive from stations operated by the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) and in this case, the station catering for our customers in Imo has been shut down by the Labour Union.
- “As a Distribution Company, our primary source of supply is from the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) Stations, and once there is disruption in the chain, we won’t be able to deliver service to our customers,” he said.
While sympathising with the residents of Imo over the power outage, he expressed hope that the parties involved would resolve their differences for normalcy to return to the state.
Ezeh also revealed that the company was adversely affected too, as it has lost millions of Naira in revenue since Nov. 1 when the electricity transmission station was shut down.
Furthermore, Ezeh said that the EEDC will not bill consumers for the period that they were out of supply, stressing that“the company does not bill for service not rendered.”
He, however, pointed out the electricity bill that would be sent to consumers this month of November will have to be paid since it reflects the energy consumption of October.
- “The impact of the power outage currently experienced will reflect on the December bill, which will be for energy consumed in the month of November.
- “Whereas the November bill, which is for energy that has been consumed in the month of October, has to be paid for by the customers, as it has no relation with the current power situation being experienced,” he said.
