Residents and companies in Lagos and Abuja are soon to enjoy 16 and 24 hours power supply, according to a proposal by the Presidential Action Committee on Power.
Also to have 16-hour minimum electricity like Lagos are cities with what the committee called “stranded generation capacities.” The cities are Kano, Kaduna, Ibadan, Onitsha and Nnewi. The cities were chose because they are regional industrial and commercial hubs.
Port Harcourt, Rivers State; Aba, Abia State; Uyo, Akwa Ibom State are grouped by the committee alongside Abuja for 24-hour uninterrupted power supply
These are the highlights of a proposal by the PACP Action Plan that will alter the electricity supply system operated by the Power Holding Company of Nigeria.
Under the system, all generated electricity in the country would be transmitted to the National Grid and distributed by the National Control Centre, Osogbo, among the 11 electricity distribution companies.
The system would make it impossible for states that have built their own independent power plants to get steady supply because the electricity they generate is put into a pool instead of being used directly by them.
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A report on the preliminary presentation of the proposal by the Prof. Barth Nnaji-led committee obtained by our correspondent in Abuja on Monday, showed that Abuja is to enjoy 24-hour regular power supply because of its closeness to the Shiroro hydro plant.
Port Harcourt is also privileged because of the Rivers State-owned independent power plants in Trans-Amadi and Omoku. Uyo is benefitting due to Akwa Ibom State-owned Ibom Power Plant and Aba because it hosts the Geometric IPP.
According to the report, state capitals, urban and semi-urban areas are to enjoy 18-hour electricity while remote communities negatively impacted by transmission from Maiduguri, Kastina and Sokoto are to get about 12-hour supply.
The PACP also suggested that rural communities connected to the national grid should get 12-hour supply of electricity.
Recalling President Goodluck Jonathan’s promise to Nigerians to improve on electricity supply within a short time, the presidential committee said it understood the promise to mean fast-tracking improvement and predictability in the availability of power to Nigerian homes and businesses within three to six months.
The committee added that it plans to take irreversible steps to promote medium to long term sustainable growth of the Nigerian power sector within three to 12 months.
The PACP report, which was prepared by the secretariat of the committee, stated that the strategy would be to focus on all initiatives on customer- service delivery, which are availability, quality and reliability, with a strong presidential oversight.
It added, “We will simultaneously implement short, medium and long term solutions that make electricity availability predictable in Nigeria and fast-track the implementation of the Electric Power Sector Reform Act 2005.”
The report also listed the objectives of the Action Plan to include making every electricity consumer a customer that is responsible and that complies with tariff and service obligations.
It said, “We will identify all sources of available excess captive generation in the country and develop a fast- track framework for making such accessible to customers.
“We will establish and sustain effective communication with power stakeholders and the Nigerian public across the entire span of the Action Plan.”
The PACP further claimed that the analysis of Nigerian electricity crisis indicated that “the problem is more process and management-related than capacity and equipment-related.”
The committee listed the management-induced problems to include poor fuel-to-power strategy; poor and irregular maintenance of power plants and installations; absence of strategic support agreement losses due to theft; sabotage; and vegetation interference with lines.
It also catalogued the commercial problems to include “lack of commercial framework for private sector participation/investment; ineffective and non-responsive regulation; and price adjudication mechanism, which results in inadequate tariff regime.
The report noted that there was “poor payment culture among Nigerian electricity consumers, poor revenue collection and non-responsiveness to consumer needs.”
According to the committee, labour issues believed to be hindering the performance of the power sector include “legacy” union problems, which prevent the reforms of the PHCN successor companies; inadequate manning level, whereby 90 per cent of revenue was spent on manpower costs; and inadequate capacity development.
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