PHEDC And Power Supply

For  decades running, this nation has lost  incalculable
billions of naira in the commitment to provide  functional power supply, but all to abject failure.
After loosing hope, faith and confidence in the hitherto power operators with their legion of fraudulent and incredible excuses for non-performance, the government  in frustration and total disappointment, sought  the alternative ways forward.
The analyses  of these  alternatives informed the privatisation  of the power sector.  Private  power distribution firms showed  interests. In the end, 15  of  them  were successful. On  November 9, 2013, the Federal  Government formally handed  over the moribund power sector of the nation, broken into power generation, distribution, etc. to  the successful organizations for different  zones in the country to achieve  the age-long illusive functional power supply.
In the  hand-over  ceremony, the Federal Government said that the Power Holding Co. Nig. Plc (PHCN), the former  sole operator of the nation’s power sector ceased to exist in name, structure, function and character. This brought to extinction the ever-most  unpatriotic, fraudulent, dubious and discredited parastatal this nation ever had. The people then heaved a sigh  of relief, though still apprehensive.
While the people anxiously awaited the new successful individual power  organizations of their zones to identity with them and make their commission  statements, some parts of the nation  and environs inclusive, witnesses a total black-out immediately after the formal hand-over.
The general impression was that the new operators had thrown the spanners on the works for effective, efficient and satisfactory take-off, hence, the unannounced black- out. Unfortunately, this was not the case, for two weeks after the hand-over and into the black-out, Rivers people and environs were shocked to receive yet another fictitious bill for November and December 2013 from Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company (PHEDC). Their first bill. This made the people to know that PHEDC is in-charge of power operation in Rivers State. “But no power supply yet. Another fraud?” The people asked. An act that reminded them of the much abhorred defunct PHCN. This heightened the peoples’ apprehension.
As PHEDC is welcomed it is important to  state here that the Nigerian nation opted  for private power operators as  last resort to achieve the age-long illusive functional power supply and  save the people the trauma, frustration, pains and agony they were subjected to by the defunct PHCN.
The  people of Rivers State and others under its operation expect a high degree of competent, efficient, honest and satisfactory power operator not resembling, in any manner, the defunct PHCN.
However, its take-off approach creates a great challenge to its integrity as the people of the ‘state and others doubt its competence, efficiency, honesty and credibility, to provide this much needed and inevitable functional power supply.
Substantiating this doubt, Rivers people could recall that in August 2011, PHEDC announced a 30-day power black-out from August 1 to September 1, 2011 to the people of the state to enable it carry out “major repair” works at Afam power plant to forestall the incessant power outrages. “The project, when completed, there would be far more power supply than the entire state would need in their individual, social and economic lives.”
It should be noted here that the status of PHEDC was not publicly known and clear then. It was regarded as a division of PHCN. That means PHEDC was already in existence and participated with PHCN before the privatization. So it should not feign innocent of the ills of PHCN as its performance and character are no departure from that of PHCN even the name.
This PHEDC’s public information of its journey to Afam Power Plant sent jitters down the spine of residents of Rivers State and beyond as they were afraid this mission to the almighty Afam Plant might plunge the entire state and beyond into a total black out and aggravate the epileptic power supply. At least, half bread is better than none. The people would prefer.
True to their apprehension, they narrowly escaped this disaster as e one month blackout lasted over three months and at last resulted only in the same epileptic supply and incessant outages they sought to forestall that characterized the service till date. But the people thanked God that, at least, the almighty Afam Plant was not tampered with.
This writer being quite sure that PHCN, PHEDC or whatever they were lacked the competence, efficiency, integrity and credibility to provide this much valued facility after the Math mission challenged them to tell Rivers people and others where else after Afam plant.
It should be recalled and noted here that PHCN or PHEDC’s journey to Afam plant was the final part of call in its frantic, frustrating and incompetent efforts to provide the needed functional power. For it had before then exhausted all other avenues as it had earlier blamed the ‘obsolete’ generating and transmission systems – the turbines at Kainji dam, the transformers, cables, poles, etc nationwide for its non-performance and was immediately and adequately empowered to replace them. Yet the functional power in the nation is still far-fetched.
After all, these and having exhausted all angles where it could hide its incompetence, it now blames any little gas leakage as the cause of why Nigerian nation could not have functional power supply after this much far. But when there is no leakage of gas, no power supply still.
The Federal Government as the sole owner of the power sector then sponsored the endless journeys so far. Now, DC is the sole power operator in Rivers State and had earlier exhausted  ‘problem areas’ that ‘inhibited’ its expected efficient performance.
It is really very unfortunate, disappointing and disheartening that PHEDC should pick the same ignoble character of the defunct PHCN. It would not need to be told that it is highly fraudulent and unethical for it to raise fictitious charges for service it did not render.
It is also unprofessional, dubious and uncreditable for a business organization of PHEDC’s standing in contemporary business world, to raise charges for its service without an authentic and credible basis of billing.
PHEDC should realize that it is a salvager and Nigerian nation has no other option after privatization that brought it. It should also realize that its integrity is much in doubt and were Rivers people to choose their power operator, it would not be PHEDC.  To create a noble image, PHEDC should as a matter of necessity stop groping any further and find better ways to render the essential service it voluntarily entered into. It should also establish a credible and authentic billing system by providing functional meters to all customers and base its rating on actual meter reading to ensure a credible and fraud-free charges.
It should as a matter of necessity refund, by crediting customers’ accounts  from November /December 2013 and January/February 2014 bills.
It should stop the habit of providing power only few days to the issuance of current bills and few days after ascertaining that the bills have been paid.
It should establish its own unique, credible and satisfactory customer-oriented system of operation distinct from the defunct and ignoble PHCN.
Ukutumoren  writes  from  Port Harcourt.

Ukutumoren E. Ukutumoren