Black on black, the new Nigerian apparel signifies the incessant power supply failure that has resulted in load shedding among distribution companies all over the country.
Towards the end of 2020, generation companies in Nigeria (GenCos) recorded peak generation figures at about 8,145MW. They attributed the poor availability of power to consumers as a fault from distribution and transmission companies due to poor infrastructure and load rejection.
But then, at the twinkle of the eye, generation figures dipped in the early months of 2021, and it is yet to recover. GenCos, however, and as usual, have attributed the cause of poor generation to insufficient gas supply to thermal power plants, poor conditions of some plants, and water maintenance issues.
All these challenges have amounted to poor availability of power to consumers, and distribution companies (DisCos) have resulted in loading shedding.
Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC), accompanied by Enugu DisCo and Ibadan DisCo, kicked off the load shedding as the power transmitted to them was insufficient to supply electricity to customers according to their tariff class.
Presently, customers belonging to Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company have cried out in pain of the insufficient electricity. Some claim they only receive five hours of electric power a day which is barely sufficient to carry out their activities. Hence leaving them with no better alternative than to spend money on dirty energy sources such as fossil-fueled generators.
Black on black is indeed the new costume provided to electricity customers due to blackouts and constant load shedding.