Enugu DisCo appoints new CEO with mandate to reduce ATC&C of 62%
Ben Eguzozie is business a.m. regional lead based in Port Harcourt, providing regional and national coverage for economy, business and finance
You can contact him on ben.eguzozie@businessamlive.com with stories and commentary.
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Enhance service delivery to customers
The Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC), one of the 11 electricity distribution companies in Nigeria, has appointed Chorghade Praveen, former chief of engineering at India’s Tata Power, as the new managing director and chief executive officer.
Praveen, with 38 years of experience in the electricity value chain, retired from Tata Power as its chief of engineering in 2019.
He is coming to EEDC with a mandate to reduce the DisCo’s huge aggregate technical, commercial and collection (ATC&C) losses, the feat he had performed in the New Delhi distribution company, reducing the company’s ATC&C losses from 54 percent down to 12 percent within six years.
According to data from the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), EEDC’s ATC&C losses stood at 62 percent as at September 2020, up from 52 percent in January of same year.
An ATC&C loss is the difference between the amount of electricity received by a distribution company from the transmission company and the amount of electricity for which it invoices its customers plus the adjusted collections loss.
Additionally, the ATC&C losses, as an index to indicate losses in the power system, are trendy because they provide a clear picture of both energy and revenue loss conditions.
A related index are the technical losses which are the losses that occur within the distribution network due to the cables, overhead lines, transformers and other substation equipment that are used to transfer electricity.
In the regulatory regime, ATC&C loss is the main criteria to judge the financial health of a distribution utility. Commercial losses are caused by non-technical or commercial factors namely pilferage, theft, defective meters, errors in meter reading, estimating un-metered supply of energy, among others.
Some of the options to reduce technical losses include: replacing incorrectly sized transformers, improving the connection quality of conductors (power lines), and increasing the availability of reactive power by installing capacitor banks along transmission lines.
Emeka Ezeh, head of communications at EEDC, said the new MD/CEO, with his “wealth of knowledge and experience garnered over the years, his steering the affairs at EEDC will in a great way transform the company’s position.”
He said Praveen promises to reduce the ATC&C losses level in Enugu DisCo, and will ultimately enhance the service quality to customers.
“He has contributed to the turnaround of Delhi Distribution AT&C losses from 54 percent to 12 percent within six years, while ensuring 24/7 electricity supply to customers in north and northwest Delhi,” the EEDC spokesman said of the new MD/CEO.