Ajifowobaje: Ikeja Electric’s Metering Plan Will Continue Until December 2016
The Chief Executive Officer of Ikeja Electric, Mr. Abiodun Ajifowobaje spoke to journalists on the achievements of the new owners of the company in the past two years, and the challenges, especially in the areas of metering and the non-payment of cost-ref
Ikeja Electric was said to have delayed the rollout of meters to customers and this attracted sanctions by the Nigerian Electric Regulatory Commission (NERC). Could you please give us an update on your metering scheme and what informed the delay? We have rolled out our Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) scheme. We project that we will on a monthly basis, install12, 000 meters. As soon as our contractors mobilise more teams, we will be hitting 15,000 meter installation per month. After our 2,000 meter installation pilot scheme, we have already installed another 8,500. For October, we need less than 2,000 units to hit the target, and this will be achieved by the end of the month. We had earlier said we will install 10,000 meters for October. The programme is very much on course and we are confident that we will realise our target of deploying these 300,000 smart meters to our customers.
The point is that we wanted to install meters that are smart, reliable, secure and futuristic. This is in line with our customer-centric approach of ensuring service excellence in all our operations. Prior to the ongoing deployment, we had to embark on a thorough review of the project to ensure that the solution we adopt is one that will resonate with global best practice. We went through a lot of painstaking attention to details and stakeholder engagements to arrive at the meters we are currently installing. These smart meters that will be installed at residential and business locations can be monitored remotely from our office. A customer can also monitor how he/she progresses on a daily basis using the meter. For instance, if a customer intends to spend just N10, 000 on a monthly basis, that could be achieved. What we have now is secure, tamper-proof and puts the power of conservation and management of usage in the hands of our customers.
So, have you now put any programmes in place in the bid to effectively meter all customers on your network? We have drawn our timetable on how we are going to cover all our customers. In the first instance, we are going to meter 300,000 customers. But there is no way we can bring in all the 300,000 meters for installation in one month. There are some we are going to install now, and it continues until December 2016. The holistic timetable for the installation will be strictly adhered to as it was informed by parameters that are vital to the overall success of the project.
In addition to the AMI project, Our Board has just approved the implementation of CAPMI scheme to boost the process of metering. The fact still remains that the meters are free – whether through CAPMI or the AMI scheme. If customers pay under CAPMI for acquiring meters, Ikeja Electric will refund such monies over time. The procedure through which our customers can leverage our CAPMI scheme, will be made public soon. The meters will help us effectively monitor and manage customer consumption as well as minimise losses.
Secondly, our Customer Enumeration, Technical Audit and Asset Mapping (CETAM) initiative is targeted at making every consumer of power within our network our customers indeed. This initiative has kicked-off fully and we are going from house to house. The plan is to ensure customers are adequately captured on our database. This will ultimately lead to enhanced service delivery and more efficiency in billing.
The second aspect of this initiative is the technical audit. All the power assets from transformer, cables, poles, and so on, used for our operations will be captured using our technology. In the long-run, immediately we identify a customer, we can map the customer to a transformer; map the transformer to a feeder; and so on. The data is needed to manage the system effectively. We expect that this project will be concluded in the next seven to 10 months.
A combination of the metering scheme and the CETAAM initiative is certain to produce seamless service within the Ikeja Electric network. In fact, by-passing of our meters and other acts of sabotage will ultimately be checked. By the time we finish CETAAM, we will be able to identify all the weak technical points on out network and now plan on how to do network expansion and maintenance. Of course, this will assist us to do good management and balancing.
How do you justify your position to increase tariffs, along with other distribution companies? Our 10-year tariff schedule went through the regulator’s process. The truth is that whatever is realised from the tariff is used to fund the entire value chain of the power industry – generation, transmission, NERC, and others. When we say a tariff must be cost-reflective we mean it must pay for everything along the value chain. If the tariff is cost-reflective, the only thing that distribution companies keep is less than 20 per cent of the entire money made.
NERC brought out a guideline, and one of the guidelines is that we meet our customers and agree on pricing terms. We had to do public consultation with the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria as well as other stakeholders and consumers. After that, we made our initial presentation to NERC. The regulator looked at it and referred us back to the customers again to tell them what the new tariff would be after all cost parameters have been considered.
We have made that input, and have submitted our tariff plan to NERC, waiting for its final approval. NERC had admitted that there is no way tariff review would be done without having a form of increase. The sector needs a tariff that will support the entire value chain of the power sector for efficiency and sustainability. We expect that the resultant cost-reflective will help reposition the sector for improved service delivery. We would like to use this medium to appeal for the support and cooperation of our esteemed customers in this regard.
When you took over in November 2013, you complained of low power allocation from the national grid. What are you getting now and what exactly is the quantity of power you require to service your customers? When we took over in November 2013, power allocation to Ikeja was hovering between 300MW to 320MW. At a stage, it went to about 200MWand power supply crisis early in the year at time we go zero megawatt.
Following improved power generation, especially driven by the progress being recorded at Egbin Power that now generates 1,100mw, we have in the last few months seen improved allocation to Ikeja has improved hovering between 450MW and 500MW. This has translated to more power supply to our customers. However, there is still a shortfall as we require 1,250MW of power to customers within our network. Since the takeover date, we have among other strategic initiatives continued to upgrade our network for seamless and equitable distribution of the power we get. We also have localized cases where we have witnessed issues with transformers and feeders. We are responding to these issues whilst implementing a holist overhaul programme that would reposition Ikeja Electric for optimal performance at all times all over our network. We have made significant progress in this regard and remain committed to working with all stakeholders to ensure our esteemed customers are serviced excellent, efficiently and sustainably.
When the new management took over, promises were made for replacement of bad transformers and upgrade of assets. Please can you be specific in telling us how far you have gone in fulfilling these promises? Yes, we are replacing bad transformers and upgrading our assets. Between January and June this year, we have replaced 96 defective transformers and have effected major repairs on feeders and other installations. The upgrade is a continuous process that will ultimately ensure stability and efficiency within the network. There is one aspect of asset that we consider as the most crucial. That is, our people. We have since the takeover continued to invest in our people through local and foreign training programmes designed for all categories of staff. We are confident to state that our people are among the leading professionals in the power sector and we have a seamless succession plan for the future through our Graduate Engineering Programme. We believe that all of our human capital investment will culminate in the best possible service for our customers.
What is your company doing to check the spate of vandalism on your network? It is unfortunate that there are individuals out there whose activities have been detrimental to the progress of our projects in Ikeja Electric. In fact, there are certain consumers who through illegal connections steal energy from the system. These people, commonly referred to as “energy thieves” abound across the network and need to be checked through collaborative efforts that needs the support of well-meaning Ikeja Electric customers. Their actions lead to disruptions within the system and also affect the process of effective billing. We are appealing to our esteemed customers to help identify such people to ensure sanity and efficiency in the system. In our efforts to check this problem, we have been carrying along communities at various levels through continuing engagements. We have established collaborative initiatives with virtually all the security agencies and in fact, we have a working relationship with the Nigerian Civil Defence Corp. Before, we could have as high as five cases of vandalism in a month; but now, following our collaborative initiatives, the cases have been drastically reduced. The process of identifying and prosecuting the energy thieves is one that requires the support of all customers within the network Already, over 10 people have been arrested for illegal connections and they will be prosecuted. There are still many more out there that need to be stopped. We urge customers to report any case of illegal connections to the nearest Ikeja Electric office. Let me also stress that customers should also report cases of extortion in any guise from people purporting to be our staff or even members of staff. What we have in Ikeja Electric we have zero tolerance for any form of unprofessional act by our staff. We are building a team of people who are ethical and professional.