Energy theft, dwindling revenue: PHED won’t spare you anymore
The Port Harcourt Electricity Company (PHED) will issue N5BN bills in a month and watch its accounts record just N2.2BN payments which it would use to pay to the Genco, Transmission Company of Nigeria, internal costs such as salaries and operations, and still hope to post profit for the investors. This has been very difficult. The present management led by a PHD holder in accounting, Henry Ajagbawa, has been trying out many innovations, some of which have pitched him against the union, but he has been able to move the dial to N2.7BN of recent.
Now, the PHED management said they won’t spare anyone trying to tamper with their facilities or do anything that would harm its revenue. Management has thus made an arrest to prove its determination.
In a statement signed by our friend, John
Onyi, the image maker, PHED has warned members of the public in its franchise area [Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River and Rivers states] not to access its network without authorisation.
Onyi said the management has set up surveillance teams across the four states to ensure that no unauthorised individual infiltrates into its network without following the due process.
The warning is coming on the heels of established/witnessed cases of unauthorized access to PHED’S network by some individuals claiming to be electrical contractors without recourse to safety standards/ implications and in addition overloading the existing infrastructure. “Henceforth, anyone caught in our network shall be prosecuted”, the statement warned.
He talked of a sample case of the arrest of Friday Ogbonna who was allegddly carrying out an illegal activity on PHED’S network at G .U. Ake Road, near Pearl Garden Estate along Eneka Road, Port Harcourt. The arrest is seen as a strong signal that PHED meant the warning.
He said PHED has been facing immeasurable business challenges stemming from vandalism, energy theft, staff brutality, nonpayment of electricity bill by some customers who erroneously believe that electricity is free, illegal connection to the network, among others.
But in all these challenges, PHED is determined in delivering safe and reliable power supply to customers in its franchise area.
Meanwhile, PHED is about to disgrace some persons who want to fiddle with light. It is in the spate of energy theft and other associated infractions by some customers in the system. They call it naming and shaming of offenders (if Nigerians still knew shame).
Ajagbawa made this known in a public forum recently in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital where he decried the negative impact of energy theft on the business continuity of the company said that aside naming and shaming, the offenders would be made to face the wrath of law.
The CEO warned the offenders to desist from such an unholy and wicked act capable of threatening the sustainability of the company noting that no stone shall be left unturned until every offender is brought to book.
“We are determined to eradicate energy theft in the system and that’s why we are collaborating with the security agencies. Any customer caught by passing or tampering with our meter will not only be named and shamed but shall in addition face the full weight of law and thereafter made to pay loss of revenue arising from the unwholesome act”, Ajagbawa said.
He had in a previous media parley stated that PHED was losing over N2.5billion on monthly basis due to energy theft. During the parley, the MD/CEO had explained that energy theft should not only be the concerns of Distribution Companies, but the concerns of all Nigerians, as curbing it remains one of the ways through which services can be improved in the power sector.
“One of the ways that we can survive and improve on our services is when customers pay their bill and stop meter bypass. We are coming after those who are involved in meter bypass and we will get back what belongs to us. Those sabotaging the system must be brought to book.
” We need a legislation to criminalize energy theft and vandalism of electricity facilities. If you criminalize it and make the consequences severe definitely, we will have it better. Nigerians should learn to pay for energy consumed”, Ajagbawa concluded.