Ibom Power Company Is Working, Generates 82.4 Megawatts Currently  – MD

… Assures Citizens Of Steady Power Supply 
By Uduak Akai 
IKOT ABASI 
The managing director of Ibom Power Company has affirmed that the company is working and currently generating 82.4 megawatts of electricity.
Mr  Camilus Umoh made this position known recently, while conducting newsmen round for an on-the-spot assessment of its facilities to ascertain the level of functionality in order to inform, educate and sensitize the public accordingly as watchdogs of the society.
Umoh, an engineer, who said the tour was basically organised for clarity, transparency and accountability in the state power sector, explained that presently the company with two functional turbines is generating  82.4 megawatts, noting that Akwa Ibom needs about 70 megawatts to operate, affirming that the company is generating above the state’s requirement at the moment.
  “What we see as Ibom Power now is that with availability of gas, we are prepared to run because it will cost the company more funds to maintain and repay its turbines and equipment if it does not run, that is exactly what we are demonstrating. 
  “The company is always ready to operate at its full capacity whenever gas is available because the functionality of the company is dependent on gas, which is usually constrained by factors beyond the  company’s control”, he noted.
He said Ibom Power Company was commissioned in 2010 (about 15 years ago), as a limited liability utility company with three gas turbines, explaining that out of the three gas turbines, two – the 115 megawatts and the 283  megawatts – are functional,  while  the third turbine has been out of use for the the past 13 to 14 years due to checker supply which has reduced the company’s capacity.
  Umoh hinted that the major challenge facing the company is not generation but sabotage, revenue leakages and failure on the part of electricity value chain, particularly at the transmission and distribution levels, maintaining that for the past 24 months, the percentage of the company’s energy invoice paid is between 30-35 per cent due to collection shortfall by distribution company, subsidy shortfall payment by the Federal Government as well as collection shortfall by clients  who have meters but pay estimated billing.
According to him, “It is all these gaps that have contributed to the N4 trillion, and presently N6.3 trillion debt that the power sector is being owed, in which we all are partakers in this guilt”.
Umoh regretted that it is really sad that many citizens are reluctant to own meters because the mindset of an average Nigerian is that power is a social utility service, adding that it is saddening too to see some meter owners by-pass their meters, some destroy it to be able to manipulate bill payment, some negotiate with PHEDC officials and electricians to destroy the lines in order to get direct feed without payment and all these do not go down well with the company’s operations.
He noted further that some persons go the extra mile to steal armored cables in transformers, distribution lines along the line and even vandalise the towers, lamenting that even communities who are  supposed to be involved in surveillance are not helping matters as they collaborate negatively to sabotage the system.
In his words, “Everybody has a joint destiny in the power sector. Consumers do not pay interface collection, distribution company does not pay income payback and transmission company cannot transmit because generator company does not have gas and water”.
He admonished citizens to appreciate the fact that power has moved from being a social service by government to an investment that diligently requires a payback return on its investment in order to stay sustainable.
“Anywhere you go in the world, subsidy regimes are never sustainable because at some point the person paying the subsidy will get tired because it is called donor fatigue or supplier fatigue because there are other competing needs for money and they cannot continuously pour money on a particular sector.”
He said Ibom Power cannot guarantee gas supply because the gas flow is controlled by private producers creating an artificial gate that often leaves the plant idle despite the state’s huge gas reserves, saying that it is for this development and the need for backward integration in the energy sector that Akwa Ibom government moved to launch a state-owned oil and gas company to tap into its abandoned gas and oil resources directly to support its operations.
  “There must be that backward integration, and that intentional backward review will reduce the interface. It is on this realization that the state government has formed an Ibom oil and gas company to see how to support its operations. 
  “There is a differences between oil and gas endowment and gas availability. It is not just easy, it takes funds, investment and human effort but there is progress”.
In all, he submitted that “The money in the power sector is much firstly because their investments have been owed, secondly because of the level of their development and thirdly because there have been pilfering, vandalism and sabotage of assets that were already on ground.”
Fielding questions on why Akwa Ibom government cannot generate and distribute electricity directly to all communities in the state, Umoh swiftly responded that the existing distribution license granted to the state covers only 266 communities that lacked electricity as at the time the license was issued, emphasising that the recent Akwa Ibom Electricity Law was enacted to bridge this limitation and empower the Ibom Utility Company distributes power generated by Ibom Power.
He stressed that due to the interconnectivity of the company’s operations, every stakeholder in the value chain should live up to its bidding, assuring that with all hands on deck, Akwa Ibom citizens will enjoy a steady power supply.
Present during the facility tour were the company secretary, Mr Ime Archibong, a lawyer; plant manager, Mr Aniefiok Sunday and Mr Tony Eduok among other management staff.
Facilities inspected were: Area Control Room, Low and  High Voltage Room, Gas Turbine 115 Megawatts, Gas Turbine 238 Megawatts, Emergency Back-up Supply Department, Gas Facility Department, among others.