KEDCO Records Financial Recovery, Appeals For Prompt Bill Payments

Kano Electricity Distribution Company (KEDCO), on Sunday, disclosed that it
has reported a steady improvement in its financial performance following the restoration of power supply after the blackout in September and October 2024.

THE WHISTLER recalls that KEDCO was severely affected by a disruption to the Shiroro-Kaduna 330kV transmission line on October 13, leading to a drastic reduction in its grid allocation, which fell to 40%.

This situation worsened on October 20 when the company experienced a total blackout, severely impacting its revenue collection during the billing cycle.

However, power was partially restored to 40% of normal supply on October 30, with 85% supply levels achieved by November 14.

The company, in a statement issued by its Head of Corporate Communication, Sani Bala Sani, stated that it is now awaiting the completion of repairs to fully restore supply.

‘Kano Electricity Distribution Plc. (KEDCO) is having steady improvement in financial and business performance following the restoration of power supply, in recuperation from the negative impact of the recent blackout experienced during the September – October 2024 billing and collection cycle.

“Recall that KEDCO, alongside three (3) other distribution companies in the North East and North West had significant disruption to power supply in October, with KEDCO being the worst hit.

“KEDCO operations were initially impacted on October 13th, 2024 with only 40% of our grid allocation being supplied after the Shiroro-Kaduna 330kV line incident, further exacerbated by a total blackout on October 20th, 2024, the peak of our revenue collection cycle.

“Although the power supply was partially restored to a 40% level on 30th October, we were only availed with up to around 85% supply levels on November 14th and anxiously awaiting completion of the Shiroro-Kaduna repairs”, the company stated.

KEDCO, however, lamented the negative effect of the development of its performance, saying that “the incident presented us with our worst market performance this year”

The company also vowed to continue to serve its consumers better just as it
commended the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), and the Federal Government’s restoration efforts and commitment to helping improve the redundancy and safety of the National Grid.

“Regrettably, the incident presented us with our worst market performance this year. Having zero grid supply posed significant financial and economic challenges for KEDCO and its customers, with many customers resorting to costly backup sources or shutting down operations.

“In our best-performing months, our ATC&C losses parameter was sharply down by over 20%, to a record of 40%and we plan to return to those levels.

“Thankfully, with the current power supply at around 85%, we have recorded significant collections from last month’s arrears and are appealing to our customers to continue to cooperate with us on prompt settlement of their current bills and arrears for business sustainability.

“We commend the resilience of our customers and vow to continue to improve our performance in supplying them with safe and reliable electricity. We also thank the Honourable Minister of Power for his timely intervention and visit during the crisis, to understand our challenges.

” We equally acknowledge TCN’s restoration efforts and appreciate the Federal Government’s commitment to helping improve the redundancy and safety of the National Grid.

“It remains our core investor and Board’s resolve to continue to drive investments and improved performance through embedded generation supply options in our network via the Safe Grid and Utility 2.0 projects in collaboration with our tri-state governments, under the guidance of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), it is vital to appeal for our customers’ continued cooperation to actualize that vision”, KEDCO stated.