Mainpower Electricity Distribution Limited (MEDL) has said the power outages experienced over the past four days in Enugu are due to a significant drop in energy allocation from our parent company, Enugu Electricity Distribution Company PLC (EEDC).
A statement signed by the MEDL Management on Monday and made available to BusinessDay said the development is a result of the recent issuance of a new Tariff Order to Mainpower by the Enugu Electricity Regulatory Commission (EERC). The Order reduced the tariff for Band A customers from ₦209.50/kWh to ₦160.40/kWh.
Upon receipt of the Tariff Order, MEDL, by obligation, promptly updated EEDC (our energy supplier). After analysing the implications of the new tariff, EEDC concluded that implementing it would result in a monthly loss of over ₦1 billion, which makes it impossible for EEDC to meet its obligations to the Market.
Consequently, and to mitigate these losses, EEDC made the difficult decision to reduce the volume of energy supplied to MEDL. This has unfortunately resulted in MEDL receiving only about 50% of its usual energy allocation, significantly affecting our ability to serve some of our esteemed customers.
It is important to clarify that MEDL does not receive electricity directly from National Grid. Instead, we rely solely on EEDC, which holds the vesting contract agreement with the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading (NBET), the organisation responsible for electricity bulk trading.
We deeply regret the inconvenience this situation has caused our valued customers. Please be assured that discussions are ongoing with key stakeholders at the state and federal levels (including EEDC, EERC, NERC, NISO, and NBET) to quickly resolve this issue. We are hopeful that a resolution will be reached within the next 48 hours or soon thereafter.
We also acknowledge that this communication is coming later than expected. The delay was due to the short notice with which we received the full details of the development.
We appeal for your continued patience, calm, and understanding as we work diligently with the relevant authorities to restore normal service as soon as possible.
