.

• As NERC demands N6B monthly collection
• Situation compounded as flood damages equipment
• As 187 Bayelsa staff get N9,250,000 flood relief

By Egufe Yafugborhi, PORT HARCOURT

The Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution (PHED) has expressed worry on how to sustain quality service delivery as 70000 customers connected to the company’s supply have not paid for power consumed in the past six months.

Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of PHED, Dr. Benson Uwheru, who raised the alarm yesterday in Port Harcourt, Rivers state, said the situation is further compounded by the raging flood ravaging their largely coastal mandate states of Rivers, Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom and Cross River, destroying transformers and sundry equipment.

Against recent matching orders to power distribution companies (Discos) in Nigeria by the sector regulator, Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) on need to intensify the revenue drive, Uwheru urged PHED employees to awaken hunger and creativity for excellence in attracting improved revenue.

He said, “As many as 70,000 customers of the company have not vended in the last six months, yet they are connected to the company’s network. How can we continue to provide stable and quality power supply to our customers if the company is not being paid for services provided?

“The implication of NERC’s order is that the company must set and meet a N6Billion monthly target. I declare therefore every possible strategy be deployed towards revenue drive, via transformers, feeders, and technically and commercially driven in every region across its franchise area.

“Every employee of the organization is now a Techno-Commercial staff, so all staff should be involved in the company’s revenue drive, including myself. Henceforth, the storm activities should be from the first day of the month to the last day of the month.”

According to him, the 2022 destructive flood which has displaced thousands, shattering livelihoods has further set back
the company’s operations and revenue collection in huge damages to power transformers and other valuable assets.

Despite the challenges, Uwheru approved a relief package of N50,000 to each of 187 employees of PHED unsettled by the flood in hard hit Bayelsa state in firm belief that, “our employees are our greatest asset, we treasure them and care for them”, he noted.