Stephen Ukandu, Umuahia
Governor Alex Otti has vowed to pull Umuahia the capital of Abia State out of the national grid.
He made the vow while inaugurating a five man board of the Abia State Electricity Regulatory Agency (ASERA), with a charge for the agency to complete the negotiations with the EEDC and acquire the Umuahia ringed-fence.
Inaugurating the members of the board at the Banquet Hall of the Government House, Umuahia, Otti said this would solve the perennial power challenge in the state capital.
He said: “We are at the final stages of negotiations with EEDC, the idea for us is to acquire the Umuahia ringed-fence and that includes Umuahia North, Umuahia South, Ikwuano, Bende, Ohafia, Isuikwuato, Umunneochi and Arochukwu.
“So, we are almost done and by the time negotiations are completed, payment would be made and we will pull Umuahia out of EEDC.
“The original agreement with Geometric before the amendment of the law was that any excess capacity would be sent to the national grid.
“Our plan right now, because Geometric has a stored capacity of 188 megawatts of energy even though they have three turbines with the capacity of 141 megawatts and the fourth turbine should be on the way any moment from now.
“At maximum load, we believe that Aba ringed-fence should not require more than a 100 megawatts. So, there is a balance of 88 megawatts.
“Our proposal is for it to be wheeled into Umuahia rather than sending it to the national grid. If we have 88 megawatts, at least we can guarantee steady supply of power,” Gov. Otti stated.
Governor Otti, who noted that “industrialization cannot happen without power,” said that, “electricity is central to the agenda of his administration.”
He narrated how he did everything possible to support the Geometric power to come on stream having been on the drawing board for 20 years before its commissioning.
He said that the members of the board were selected on merit, saying that, they passed through processes of interviews before the final selection and expressed his confidence that they would perform, especially as they have an experienced Commissioner for Power and Public Utilities, Mr Ikechukwu Monday to work with.
Responding on behalf of his colleagues, the Executive Director of ASERA, Engr. Iheanyi Eze promised to achieve the vision of Governor Alex Otti in electricity and deliver quality and affordable power for the people.
He thanked the Governor for the confidence reposed in them and assured that they would ensure that they set up a robust customer relations system in the agency.
The full list of the membership of the agency include; Mr Onyegbule Emeka – Chairman/Chief Executive Officer; Mr Ikowu Ukwu – Executive Director; Engr. Iheanyi Ine Eze – Executive Director; Onwuegbule Kareem Eberechukwu – Non Executive Director: and Dr. Joy Oti – Non Executive Director.
