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As Deltans continue to grope in the dark as a result of persistent epileptic power supply, Delta State Government says it is putting an action plan in place to take over power supply should the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) and GENCOS fail to meet the Federal Government’s March 31 ultimatum.

Delta State Commissioner for Energy, Mr. Jerry Ehiwario disclosed this, Tuesday, in his office in Asaba, while receiving the leadership of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Delta State Council on a courtesy visit to the state Ministry of Energy.

The energy commissioner further disclosed that his ministry was already making fiscal projections and earmarking certain dedicated funds in subsequent budgets to proactively address the envisaged fallouts in the aftermath of the Power Act dispensation.

According to him, the state was already working out modalities to domesticate the new Power Act to ensure that Deltans enjoy stable power supply.

He said that a bill on domestication of the Power Act would soon be sent to the Delta State House of Assembly to enable the state government to generate and distribute electricity across the state.

“The four state governments which BEDC is servicing are looking to take over their share of the DISCO as the timing to get  substantive management has elapsed.

“Presently, the financing banks are currently running the affairs of BEDC as new investors are yet to emerge,” Engr. Ehiwario stated.

Reacting to the existing IPP’s inability to supply power to private residences, Ehiwario said that the existing law did not allow private supply but added that with the domestication of the law, private individuals would be connected, stressing that it could also serve as a revenue generating source to the state government.

Hon. Ehiwario said that the prevailing power outage in the state was a national occurrence as a result of the collapse of the national grid due to inadequate gas, adding that GENCOS were contending with an acute shortage in gas supply.

Ehiwario noted that the allocation of power to the various DISCOS was insufficient at the moment while praying that the issue was resolved soon.

The commissioner stated that in addition to the debt burden, BEDC, other DISCOS and GENCOS had been given a marching order to comply with the recently enacted Power Act, effective March 31, 2024.

While acknowledging the NUJ as a critical stakeholder in government and partners in development of the state, he appealed to the council to continue to be professional in the discharge of its duties.

The Commissioner described the profession of information dissemination as a serious business, where the modus and approach of service delivery counted.

Earlier in his address, Chairman of the NUJ, Delta Council, Comrade Churchill Oyowe, said that they were at the ministry to cross-fertilise ideas.

Expressing worries at the manner Deltans struggle to provide basic amenities for themselves, especially in developing areas in the capital city and other major towns across the state, Comrade Oyowe said that it behoved the state government to ameliorate the sufferings by providing stable power supply.

Oyowe appreciated the state government’s IPP facility, currently providing stable power to the state secretariat and some government offices, but urged the authorities to extend the provision to private establishments and business concerns, by adopting the Abia State model.

The NUJ chairman, however, thanked the government for its power supply intervention through provision of    transformers, running power lines to link up rural communities, which he noted, was supposedly the responsibility of BEDC in the state.

He appealed for a step-down transformer of the 11 KVA Commercial at the NUJ Secretariat, Asaba.