The management of Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company plc (Ikeja Electric) in conjunction with its technical partner, Korean Electricity Company (KEPCO) has concluded plans to carry out enumeration of customers to drive efficiency and effective metering within its network.
Both organisations signed the contract that will kick start the exercise at Ikeja Electric’s corporate headquarters in Lagos.
Kola Adesina, vice chairman, Ikeja Electric, while speaking at an event, said the project will involve mapping the location coordinate of each of the electrical network entities from 132kv/33kv system, 11kv system, distribution transformers and poles.
The project, he said, will also involve indexing of Ikeja Electric’s distribution assets such as power transformers, feeder pillars, high tension poles and distribution transformers. “This is going to be a thorough project that would ensure a solid foundation for efficient, equitable and transparent power supply to our customers.
“The customer and consumer indexing will be carried out through door-to-door survey and therefore appealed to all its customers and the good people of Lagos to support the project by cooperating with the enumerators and provide accurate information that would empower Ikeja Electric to give the best service possible to all customers,” he said.
The project will provide a platform for assessing and accurately deploying transformers and electricity equipment required in a given community, a development he said would address challenges faced by customers that would translate to improved power supply.
It would ensure effective customer segmentation of high and low density areas and will support seamless update of the company’s customer data base, Adesina said, saying “we are transiting into an era where new technology will drive the campaign against energy theft and distortion of electrical equipment.
“The signing of the contract with KEPCO would also fast track effective metering process. With this contract, l can boldly say that the kick-starting of our robust metering project has commenced.”
Also speaking, Abiodun Ajifowobaje, CEO of Ikeja Electric, said the signing of the contract was in compliance with the directive of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) to Discos for effective customer enumeration to update their database. The exercise, he said, would enable the company upgrade its system for unrivalled service excellence.
“KEPCO is a leading global player in the power sector and our partnership has been instrumental to the continuing positive developments in Ikeja Electric. The partnership, which involves knowledge transfer through robust training and exchange programmes, will certainly pave the way for Ikeja Electric to replicate KEPCO’s success in Nigeria,” he said.
Responding, Yeom GyooChull, managing director/CEO, KEPCO, lauded Ikeja Electric management for embarking on a project that will transform its operations, saying KEPCO’s expertise in Geographic Information System (GIS) projects will ensure the exercise was carried out accurately and objectively to produce a world-class customer data profile for Ikeja Electric.
