The Abuja Electricity Distribution Company has pledged to reduce blackout and electricity interruptions in the Federal Capital Territory, Niger, Kogi and Nasarawa states by 2027.
The Chief Executive Officer of AEDC, Chijioke Okwuokenye, made this known during an engagement in Abuja on Thursday. He said the company is taking steps to improve power reliability despite the recent nationwide drop in electricity supply.
The disco attributed the decline in supply to reduced allocation from the national grid caused by seasonal challenges. Okwuokenye, however, assured customers that improvements were underway.
According to him, AEDC plans to leverage the Nigerian National Petroleum Company’s 350-megawatt gas plant in Gwagwalada to boost electricity supply in Abuja and surrounding areas by the last quarter of this year or next year.
“We are increasingly power reliable. We are constructing a new feeder to Wuse from the second week of March for customers in Wuse to experience at least 20 hours of power supply. Same with Idu,” he said.
“It may sound like a tall order, but it is possible. By this time next year, this huge impact in terms of power drop will be a thing of the past. By this time next year we will not be affected by the drop in power supply from the National Grid.”
He also identified energy theft as a major challenge affecting distribution companies nationwide and called for the cooperation of electricity users to curb the menace.
Okwuokenye further stressed the need to review the current tariff template to address liquidity issues in the power sector. He added that AEDC has deployed 70,000 meters under the federal government’s free metering scheme.
