By Gbenga Sodeinde in Ado Ekiti
The Ekiti state government has officially presented licences to 14 electricity vendors to formally begin operations in the state.
The ceremony which took place at the Lady Jibowu hall in Ado Ekiti where the commissioner for infrastructure and public utilities in Ekiti state, prof Mobolaji Aluko said the gesture was to make electricity accessible to Ekiti residents.
He expressed the belief that the move would improve power generation and distribution into the state and urged the electricity vendors to square up to the task.
In his remarks , the technical Adviser
on power infrastructure to Governor Biodun Oyebanji’, Engineer Philips Atere, described the move as a milestone towards finding a lasting solution to inadequate electricity supply to Ekiti state.
He commended the vendors for their interest to invest in Ekiti state while assured them that Ekiti people are ready to pay for the electricity they consume.
Delivering his keynote address, the Executive secretary, Ekiti state electricity regulation bureau under which the vendors were licenced , Mr Dare Samson, an Engineer, said the vendors must work together with the bureau to make electricity abundant in the state.
Engineer Engr David Dare Samson maintained that Ekiti State Government enacted the state electric power sector law in 2023 which established Ekiti state electricity regulatory authority in Ekiti state.
This development is sequel to the takeover of regulatory control of electricity market by the State from the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) in a broader effort to decentralize the power sector in Nigeria.
With the Ekiti State Electricity Regulatory Bureau (EERB) now responsible for regulating the electricity market in the State, the EERB will henceforth ratify electricity tariffs that are payable in Ekiti, while the Ekiti State Government will be responsible for customer protective policies.
In his reaction, the BEDC MD, Mr.Ajose the urged the people of Ekiti to always be vigilant to protect the government Infrastructure in their communities stressing that over 70 transformers sub stations had been vandalized in Ekiti
The vendors licences include the distribution companies Ekiti Electricity Distribution Company Limited, BEDC Electricity Ekiti Limited and Olokiti Power Distribution Company Limited. For the generation companies we have the Ekiti Independent Power Provider Limited,Enatura Nigeria Limited,A4 & T Power Solutions Limited and ASB Valiant Company Limited.
While the MINI-GRID’s companies include ;Triple-E System Associates Limited, Protergia Nigeria Limited
For the METER ASSET companies we have Protogy Global Service Limited, Mojec International Limited, Momas Electricity Meters Manufacturing Company Limited, Wellsun Intelligent Technology Limited and Arotob Global Services Limited.
Even though the licenses issued are said to be for a short term, the Bureau will assess the performance of the vendors, the authentication of their documentations before they can be issued a long term license from the State Government.
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