Bayelsa residents recall ordeal as DISCO reverts to load shedding after 2 week shutdown

Three days after the resolution of the two-week face-off that kept Bayelsa in total darkness, power supply has resumed 48 hours after aggrieved youths agreed to a truce.

Bayelsa government had on Jan 8 resolved the rift between Ijaw Youths Council (IYC) and Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company (PHEDC) which led to power cut in the state since Dec. 23, 2019.

The youths had shut down the operations of the electricity DISCO in protest of poor power supply and estimated billing not proportionate to the power supply to customers.

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 The PHEDC has resorted to load shedding amongst the three feeder pillars in the firm’s distribution network in Bayelsa supplying power between six and 12 hours in turns.

Residents who spoke on the power situation after the peace deal brokered by Secretary to Bayelsa Government, Kemela Okara said that that the resolution of the conflict was commendable and heaved a sigh of relief.

Okara had appealed to the aggrieved youths to vacate the offices of the power firm where they kept vigil daily and pledged to prevail on PHEDC to provide ‘adequate electricity’ to the people in return.

Ms Obiajunwa Modu-Spiff, an Executive of Bayelsa chapter, National Youth Council of Nigeria who resides at Akemfa area of Yenagoa said that the protest had the support of the people.

“It is a relief; we have gone through a two week period and had a festive season without power, compelling people to spend their limited resources in powering their generators.

“It was a very trying period and the small businesses got paralyzed for two weeks but people stood by the youths to put a stop to ‘paying for darkness’ and the people endured the suffering as a price for demanding better services.,” Modu-Spiff said.

 For Igoniko Oduma, a journalist and Public Affairs Analyst the restoration of power without achieving the objectives of addressing the practice of estimated billing was a minus.

“The protest did not in clear terms the issue of billing by estimates and generating imaginary figures as electricity bill when there is no proportionate supply of electricity.

“We have been through this cycle before, we have had the PHEDC ration power for six hours, twelve hours before in this town, the IYC should have addressed the core issue of metering based billing which is critical.

“If consumers are metered, then the DISCO will know that when there is no power supply, there is no revenue for them, and naturally they will do the needful and improve on supply” Oduma said.

 Chinedu Ordu a resident at Amarata area of Yenagoa noted that the restoration of public power supply to the area was a pleasant development as the heavy use of generators and resultant fumes and noise pollution had reduced.

“The burden of purchasing fuel everyday for at least N700 was not funny, you need to see the unwieldy riotous situations at filling stations in Yenagoa every evening, people spent hours just to get few liters of petrol to sleep,” Ordu said.

 
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Investigation showed that Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) had sanctioned the PHEDC for declining to take up available power from TCN’s Yenagoa substation to end users leaving power ‘stranded’.

On Aug. 20, 2019, TCN had announced the lifting of a suspension order from the electricity market it placed on the PHEDC on July 27, for breach of ‘Market Conditions/Participation Agreement’.

According to a notice available on TCN’s portal, the lifting of the sanction was a regulatory measure to ensure that distribution companies evacuated available power.

TCN said that lifting of the sanction followed PHEDC’s compliance, and took effect from Aug. 19, 2019.

The PHEDC and TCN had been shifting blames on the poor power supply in Bayelsa.

TCN had alleged that the PHEDC was unable to take up available power at its substation, while the PHEDC claimed that it was not getting enough power from the TCN’s grid.