NEPA Set to Complete Switching Station
Ebonyi
From Chinedu Eze in Abakaliki
National Electric Power Authority (NEPA), Ebonyi State zone would soon complete a new switching station at Abomege in Ebonyi south senatorial district to improve power supply in the area and Itigidi in Cross River State.
The Head and Business Manager of NEPA, Ebonyi State, Mr. Bennett Mmerem, dropped this hint while speaking to newsmen in Abakalik.
Mmerem said the station when completed would help stabilise power supply to Afikpo, its environs and to Itigidi area in Cross River State.
He disclosed that for the past three years NEPA has improved significantly in its power supply to Ebonyi State and it now renders more efficient service, stating that it has made more revenue from the state, which it is using to fund its activities in the zone.
The NEPA manager explained that power interruption experienced in the state was due to feeder problem and assured the problem would be solved as soon as the organisation provides feeders to the area.
Mmerem said the prolonged outage experienced recently in Abakaliki metropolis and environs was due to technical problem, which had something to do with the facility's hydraulically operated breaker that deteriorated as efforts were made to repair it.
"The recent power outage experienced in Abakaliki and environs was due to a problem that had something to do with breaker, which is hydraulically operated. When that problem started showing up, there were efforts to arrest it before it developed to a bigger problem, so our workers came in to work on it. Unfortunately, while trying to solve that problem we ran to another problem, which affected the duration of the outage. Something that would have lasted for three hours took almost two days before we could rectify it," he said.
The NEPA, Ebonyi State boss added that the revenue of the parastatal in the area has improved by 40 per cent and that it has also improved in its service delivery to the people as "customer interest first" has become its motto, noting that it has stopped estimating customers' bill in the area as its financial accounts system has been computerised.
Mmerem promised that new transformers would soon be provided to the areas in the capital city currently having power supply problems and disclosed that the NEPA was in the process of creating another feeder in some areas of the town.
The NEPA boss, who disclosed that Ebonyi State and Ogoja area of Cross River State consume about 30 megawatts of power, while Abakaliki metropolis consumes nine megawatts, said NEPA was more responsive to the needs of its customers, hence the improvement in service and revenue.
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