Power Sector News and Other Related News Stories For Thursday September 8th 2022
Sokoto Govt. Urges Kaduna Electric to Upgrade Installations, Metering Systems
The Sokoto State Commissioner for Energy and Petroleum Resources, Alhaji Balarabe Dandinmahe, has called on Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company to upgrade electricity installations across the state.
Dandinmahe made the call at Kaduna Electric Customer Engagement Forum for consumers from Sokoto, Kebbi and Zamfara States in Sokoto on Wednesday.
He emphasised the urgent need for the company to consider upgrading, refurbishing and total overhaul of the installations as many were over 40 years old.
He said the poor condition of equipment, erratic power supply, possibility of expanding the distribution services to equate the growing population are urgently desirable for Kaduna Electric.
The commissioner noted about 80 per cent installations were done by either state or local government areas in Sokoto State, indicating the need for the company to reciprocate the efforts by providing incentives to citizens.
https://nnn.ng/sokoto-govt-urges-kaduna-electric-to-upgrade-installations-metering-systems/
Group Wants Electricity Protection Policy for MSMss
Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Electricity Consumers Protection Advocacy Group, National Coordinator, Mr Princewill Okorie, has called for electricity protection policy for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).
Okorie, who is also the National President, Association for Public Policy Analysis (APPA), made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Wednesday.
Okorie said that the group had developed a document on the policy and submitted it to Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Federal Ministry of Power and other agencies of government.
According to him, the group is expecting these agencies to set up a committee to look into the document and come up with suggestions.
“What prompted us to put the document in place is that MSMEs are contributing to social development of the country. The survey we carried out shows most of these people are not making enough profit.
“We found out that they are not making enough profit due to the high cost of diesel and fuel as well as estimate billing.
https://www.sunnewsonline.com/group-wants-electricity-protection-policy-for-msmes/
Kaduna Electric Calls for Improved Customers’ Response to Payment of Bills
Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company has called on electricity customers within its franchise areas to enhance power supply by paying their bills. According to a statement by the Chairman, Board of Directors, Alhaji Abbas Muhammad Jega, the new agenda of the company is to ensure sustainable improvement in electricity supply in its franchise while being honest and truthful to its customers.
Jega said this in Birnin Kebbi on Wednesday when he led the company’s management on a courtesy visit to the Governor of Kebbi State, Senator Atiku Bagudu. Jega described the Kebbi state government as the most supportive state government in the company’s franchise pledging that Kaduna Electric will not take the gesture for granted.
He commended the government for what he described as its “timely intervention to address the power supply challenges in Argungu town”.
In his response, Kebbi state Governor, Senator Atiku Bagudu, described electricity as an essential ingredient for the socio-economic development of any society and pledged to partner with Kaduna Electric to ensure sustainable improvement of electricity supply in the State.
Electricity Workers Threaten Strike Action Over Poor Remuneration, Others
Electricity workers, under the league of National Association of Electricity Employees (NUEE), have said that they will embark on another strike if their demands are not adequately and timely met by the Federal Government, faulting the privatisation of the power sector by the government in October 2013.
Speaking in Owerri on Monday, the Zonal Secretary of the Union in the South East and South South, Comr Ugboaja Joseph Emeka, hinted that since the privatisation of the power sector, electricity workers have been speaking out about the anomaly.
Ugboaja stressed that “it is an undeniable truth that the power sector privatisation has not added value to the lives of ordinary citizens. The entire exercise, which could be described as a charade, has not brought any meaningful impact or improvement on the people.
After almost nine years of power privatisation, entitlements of some of the workers of the defunct PHCN had not been paid, as they suffer untold hardship; while some have been sent to an early grave, due to frustration and lack of funds to attend to health challenges after being forced out of service under the guise of privatisation.
Nigeria Not Ripe for Full Power Sector Privatisation – NUEE
The National Union of Electricity Employees, NUEE, Western zone, has called for total reversal of the privatisation of Nigeria’s power sector.
Mr Modupeoluwa Akinola, the Assistant General Secretary of the union in the zone, said the union was convinced that the country was not ready for the privatisation of the sector.
He said in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Ibadan that the union was also opposed to the planned privatisation of the Transmission Company of Nigeria.
According to him, the NUEE is demanding full renationalisation of the power sector under a democratic control of a board that includes representatives of workers and consumers.
“Our opposition to the privatisation policy was informed by our understanding and conviction that privatisation will always seek to protect and defend the profit interest of the business owners against the general interest of the people for affordable and regular electricity.
“Let’s crosscheck people that bought power Generation Companies (GenCos) and the Distribution Companies (DisCos), are they professionals in the power sector, do they have financial capabilities needed to run the sector effectively?
“Over N2 trillion of bailout funds that the Federal Government has given to both the DisCos and GenCos at different occasions since the privatisation, is not showing, in terms of improvement in electricity supply and better performance.
https://www.sunnewsonline.com/nigeria-not-ripe-for-full-power-sector-privatisation-nuee/
Oyo Secretariat, Other Communities in Total Darkness Over Power Outage
The Oyo State Secretariat in Ibadan and some communities in the state capital have been thrown into in total darkness due power outage.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that for the past one week, the whole communities have been without electricity supply, thereby paralysing activities in many of the government offices.
Mostly affected were offices of the state Commissioners, Permanent Secretaries, Ministries, Departments and parastatal Agencies within the Secretariat complex.
NAN Correspondent, who went round the affected areas on Wednesday gathered that only those offices that could afford to put on their generators were having electricity supply.
Some workers who spoke to NAN on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to talk said the situation had been worrisome for some time now.
They said only those offices that were connected to the generator in the Governor’s Office were enjoying electricity supply to work, including the Ministry of Finance.
https://nnn.ng/oyo-secretariat-other-communities-in-total-darkness-over-power-outage/
Kenya Relies on Imports to Lower Cost of Electricity
Kenya said it planned to rely on imports to lower the cost of electricity for household and industrial consumers, a government official said on Wednesday.
Daniel Kiptoo, Director General of the Energy, and Petroleum Regulatory Authority, told journalists in Nairobi, that neighbouring East African countries such as Ethiopia had abundant sources of power that they were willing to sell to Kenya.
“Some of our neighbours have a cheaper average cost of generation of electricity and these imports will help to bring down our costs,” Kiptoo said during a public participation workshop on Kenya’s oil pipeline tariffs.
Kiptoo added that Kenya had already signed a power purchase agreement with Ethiopia to purchase 200 MW of power beginning in November.
He stated that the Ethiopia-Kenya electricity transmission interconnector with a length of 612 km on the Kenyan side would be completed in October in readiness for the imports.
According to the electricity regulator, the Kenya-Tanzania and the Kenya-Uganda electricity lines were currently under construction.
https://nnn.ng/kenya-relies-on-imports-to-lower-cost-of-electricity/
Employees from Sudan’s Electricity Sector Begin Strike
Employees working in Sudan’s electricity sector announced the start of a two-day strike on Tuesday across several states after the Ministry of Energy and Oil failed to meet their demands for the implementation of the 2022 new salary structure.
The states affected by the strikes include Khartoum, Red Sea state, North Kordofan, South Kordofan and Northern State.
The unrest began on Monday after a large group of employees of the Ministry of Energy and Oil in Khartoum began a sit-in protest at the ministry, demanding the implementation of the 2022 new salary structure which includes a pay rise, before meeting with Sudan’s Energy Minister Mohamed Abdallah.
In a statement that followed the encounter, the Committee for the Electricity Workers Salary Structure said the minister eventually agreed to look at their demands and submit them to the appropriate authorities but did not guarantee their implementation.
The statement also described the minister’s words and efforts as “procrastination” and “without intent” to fulfil any of their demands. “The formation of any other committee by the ministry filled by people from outside the sector will be refused,” the statement added.
According to the Independent Sudanese news outlet Al Rakoba, security forces were eventually called to the ministry’s headquarters although no violence or clashes were reported.
https://allafrica.com/stories/202209070388.html
