BEDC: Our Operating Licence has not Been Withdrawn

BEDC: Our Operating Licence has not Been Withdrawn

The BEDC Electricity Plc (BEDC) has debunked an online publication allegedly posted by the Edo State Civil Societies Organisation (EDOSCO) that BEDC’s operating licence had been withdrawn and that customers in Benin, the Edo State capital, should not pay for electricity based on this position.

In a statement by the management of BEDC, it said it strongly condemns the publication, which it described as a propaganda allegedly peddled by EDOSCO after it instituted court cases “against some of its for the illegal tampering with its equipment.

According to BEDC, “Our esteemed customers should thus discountenance such deliberate misrepresentation as there is no withdrawal of the licence of BEDC. Rather, please recall that the Director General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), the federal government agency that midwifed the privatisation exercise at a press briefing in Benin last month declared that there was no ongoing licence renewal for BEDC or any of the other 10 distribution companies.

“Indeed the licences issued to BEDC and the other discos is 15 years, with a renewal option of another 10 years, after the expiry of same. Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) which handles all matters relating to licensing, duly recognises BEDC as the electricity service provider for Edo, Delta, Ondo and Ekiti States.”

Explaining what transpired in the recent unfortunate incident that led to a reduction in power supplied to Edo State on some feeders in Central Benin resulting from major transformer breakdown, it said that as a stop gap, it was making arrangement to connect most of the customers on the affected feeders to the existing functional ones in a manner that would not overload the system.

It said: “This is providing supply albeit on limited basis, pending when normal supply will resume after the replacement or the repairs of the transformer by TCN. Several announcements have been made on locations affected. We expect normalising of the situation soonest.”

It therefore advised its esteemed customers and “good people of Edo State to disregard the false information being peddled by EDOSCO while advising customers to continue to pay their electricity bill in line with what is consumed”.

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