Nigeria may experience widespread power outages during the Christmas period unless the Federal Government urgently addresses the mounting gas-to-power debt, as gas suppliers have begun cutting supplies to electricity generation companies.
The development has already started affecting electricity generation nationwide, leading to reduced power supply across several regions.
On Tuesday, the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC) alerted customers in the South-East to the situation in a statement signed by its Group Head, Corporate Communications, Emeka Ezeh.
According to the utility company, the decline in power availability is due to low system frequency resulting from gas constraints affecting power generation companies.
EEDC explained that the situation forced the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) to implement load shedding on the national grid.
“As a result, this development has impacted energy allocation to EEDC and reduced the daily service level to customers served by its subsidiary companies, namely MainPower, TransPower, FirstPower, NewEra, and EastLand,” the statement said.
The company added that stakeholders within the electricity supply industry are working to resolve the issue and restore normal power distribution.
EEDC apologised to customers for the inconvenience, appealing for patience and understanding as efforts continue to stabilise electricity supply amid the ongoing gas supply challenges.
