The Overlord of Dagbon, His Majesty Ya Naa Abukari II has admonished electricity consumers in the northern region to desist from engaging in illegal power connections and also stop the persistent attack on the staff of the Northern Electricity Distribution Company (NEDCo) who go about their daily rightful duties.
The call comes few months after some field staff of the company were manhandled at Koblimahagu with one person sustaining severe machete wounds.
There have been several attacks in the Greater Tamale area as a result of NEDCo going after individuals who are engaged in illegal power connections and debtors.
But the Ya Naa in his welcome remarks on Monday, December 12, when the Minister of Energy, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh paid a working visit to the Gbewa Palace in Yendi said these acts denies the government the needed revenue to continue with the provision of electricity to other parts of the nation.
The Dagbon King added the practice of illegal connections is also a recipe for fire outbreaks and electrocution which impact cannot be overemphasized.
On the other hand, the Ya Naa seized the opportunity to commend the government for the reduction of electricity tariffs in the new tariff regime announced by the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission this year.
“It is my believe that the efforts by government in the energy sector would help address some challenges in other sectors of our economy.”
For his part, the Managing Director of NEDCo, Mr. Osman Aludiba Ayuba stated the losses NEDCO record in the Northern Area in general and Tamale in particular constitutes an existential threat to their operations, adding the sustainability of NEDCO is under a very credible threat largely due to power theft.
Mr. Ayuba disclosed, “Whereas the losses in the Northern area hover around 45%, the case in Tamale Township is around 48%. This drags the overall corporate performance below the relevant regulatory benchmarks.”
However, he narrated that NEDCO began its operations in 1987 with a customer population of just 17,940 and that this number has grown astronomically to 1,166,998, as at June 2022 with the following composition; Residential Customers, 82.46%, Non-Residential Customers, 17.53% and Special Load Tariff (SLT) Customers, 0.01%.
The NEDCo Managing Director said though the combined Non-Residential and SLT Customers constitute only 17.54% of the total customer population and consume 51.16% of billed energy, they contribute 60.08% to NEDCo’s total revenue.
On the other hand, Mr. Ayuba pointed out residential customers, who make up 82.46% of total customer population, consume 48.84% of the power but contribute only 39.92% to our total revenue.
