The Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company Plc (IBEDC), on Sunday, explained reasons for poor power supply in its franchise area.
The power distribution company attributed the poor power supply to low gas supply to generating companies, a scheduled maintenance, vandalism and poor payment from customers.
This was contained in a statement signed by the IBEDC management and made available to journalists in Ibadan by its spokesperson,  Busolami Tunwase.
The power company said the aforementioned factors contributed to the current state of the power supply within the area, resulting in disruptions and inconveniences for residents and businesses.
 Tunwase said the statement became imperative in order to communicate these issues to foster understanding and reassure its esteemed customers of their commitment to finding lasting solutions.
The spokesperson said the inability of thd generating companies (GenCos) to get enough gas led to a gradual decrease in available generation into grid.
She added that the development significantly reduced the power available on the transmission grid for onward supply to IBEDC, and in turn hindered its ability to meet its customers’Â need.
The statement read: “One of the primary factors is the low supply of gas to generating companies (Gencos) which has led to a gradual decrease in available generation into the grid. This has significantly reduced the power available on the transmission grid for onward supply to IBEDC, and in turn, greatly hindered our ability to provide power to customers within our franchise, namely Oyo, Ogun, Osun, Kwara and partly in Kogi, Niger and Ekiti states.
“Secondly, scheduled maintenance activities conducted by the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) in January and March, 2024 necessitated planned outages in specific areas of our network. While these measures are essential for ensuring the long-term reliability of electricity infrastructure, we recognize the inconvenience they may cause and sincerely apologize for any disruptions experienced by our customers.
“Vandalism and theft of electricity infrastructures remains a major issue negatively impacting power supply. An example is the unfortunate vandalism of TCN towers in Ogun state in May 2023 which resulted in over months months of darkness for many of our valued customers”.
” At IBEDC we are particularly confronted with the escalating cases of vandalism, with over 40 incidents recorded in 2024 alone. The theft of valuable assets such as transformer oil, cables and aluminum conductors pose a significant challenge to our operations, as communities affected are thrown into extended periods of outage depending on the severity of the act.
“Energy theft through illegal connections, meter bypass and illicit meters are also major issues affecting adequate supply of power to customers, because they result in revenue losses and liquidity problems for the electricity value chain. We have also noticed an alarming upsurge, with over 1,450 identified cases of energy theft between January and February 2024.
“Lastly, payment apathy from customers is a major challenge to adequate supply of power. Unfortunately, across our customer segments we have different mindsets that electricity is a social service and should not be paid for; some only pay part of the bill, while others don’t pay because they haven’t received their preferred ours of supply. To all our customers, our appeal is simple, please pay for whatever hours of supply you have consumed in addition to the outstanding bills to enable IBEDC survive and become sustainable as this is the guarantee for improved power supply”.
Tunwase said the company remained optimistic that poor supply would soon become a thing of the past as the Minister of Power, Chief Adebayo Adelabu has taken urgent steps to address the gas supply issue.
She added: “On energy theft and vandalism, we are currently partnering with security agencies to reduce this vice, however, we urge our customers to remain vigilant, protect electrical infrastructures within their communities and report any suspicious activities promptly. We are implementing comprehensive measures to improve and strengthen our infrastructure in order to efficiently distribute the power we receive from the grid. We are also urgently exploring alternate sources of power to enable us meet the power supply needed within our franchise”.