Port Harcourt Disco canvasses energy efficiency

Port Harcourt electricity distribution company (PHED) is canvassing for energy efficiency even as the company battles to reduce debts from customers.

Chijoke Okwuokwenye, project manager, Projects Management Office of PHED, during a special customers’ engagement forum on energy management and electricity bulb exchange in Ahoada, Rivers State, enjoined customers to embrace the use of energy-saving bulbs to reduce the cost of energy they use.

“We encourage you to ensure that you put-off electrical appliances whenever they were not in use. Also energy-saving bulbs give better lighting, are environmentally friendly and come at less financial cost to users,” he said.

Energy efficiency drive is gaining wide acceptance in recent times. Babatunde Fashola, minister of Power Works and Housing last week launched the Building Energy Efficiency Guidelines as part of measures to include energy efficiency into the National Building Code.

Fashola said the guide which is a handbook for all professionals in the sector including architects, engineers, builders, quantity surveyors and town planners will enable professionals come to terms with the realities of energy efficiency in buildings.

Kenneth Imo, president of Ahoada Youths Council, expressed thanked PHED for the forum, pledging the groups commitment to the programme.

PHED exchanged energy saving for incandescent bulbs that their customer brought to the event. The company also gave out energy-saving bulbs to all the participants at the forum.

PHED is also battling to collect debts owned it by government ministries and departments including the Nigerian army..

Ngozi Manafe, head Glory City Main Integrated Business Centre of the company said the company was faced with huge challenge of losses due to a combination of reasons including non-payment by some customers.

Electricity distribution companies are reeling from over N90 billon debt which prompted them last month to begin serving disconnection notices to the debtors.

“Since November 2013 PHED has supplied 4 billion kilowatt hours to customers. Sadly only 55 percent of this power has been paid for. More than N36 billion has been lost due to non-payments,” said Jay McCoskey, chief executive of PHED.

Electricity distribution companies say debts to them is crippling their capacity to meet their obligation to the generation and transmission companies, pay staff and operating cost, acquire gas for turbines and repair broken power distribution infrastructure.