KEDCO Tackles Energy theft to check loss in 2019- Gwamna

Kano Electricity Distribution Company (KEDCO) says it had fashioned out ways to addressing energy theft in 2019 to check economic loss as well as meet up the N48 billion target for the year.

Dr Jamilu Isyaku Gwamna (Sardaunan Gombe), The Managing Director of KEDCO disclosed this while fielding questions from newsmen in Kano .

Dr Gwamna noted that energy theft through connections that have not been approved by KEDCO was a threat to the financial prosperity of the company, adding that, it had become a serious economic issue that must be addressed if the company hopes to achieve the revenue target for 2019.

According to him, power distribution is business and what sustains any business in the world over is profit, reiterating that un-checked energy loss may put the company in a financial position of not being able to meet up with some economic demands for the operation of the company in the nearest future.

“Energy theft is a serious economic issue because it involves the connection of energy without the knowledge of the company. This is often also referred to as illegal connection.

“We have a target for 2019, which is N4 billion monthly and N48 billion for the whole year. The fear is that if nothing is done to nip this menace in the bud, we may not achieve our target for the in-coming year.

“We have put structures and strategies on ground to ensure that such nefarious activities are checked and brought to a halt in 2019. So for those in the acts, it won’t be business as usual in 2019, I assure you.

“DisCo is a profit-oriented outfit even though we have been able to serve our numerous customers with the utmost satisfaction they deserve, we also like to warn that energy loss will not be tolerated in 2019,’’ he said.

The Kano DisCo chief emphasized that the measures taken were to ensure that those paying for energy do not have any complaints, adding that illegal connections to steal energy could result to fire outbreaks which could affect our customers.

He said: “ For every illegal connection, it is our genuine customers that are shouldering the bills. When energy is stolen without the knowledge of the consumers, whatever is illegally consumed would be paid for by the genuine customer using meters.

“I therefore advise all our customers to be vigilant and monitor energy-related issues in their environment and report suspected cases when discovered.

The KEDCO boss also warned that anyone caught in these illegal and unlawful acts, would be handled over to the police for necessary legal action, hinting that staff would also be placed on red alert against any form of collusion.