The Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC) says the current power outage in Imo due to the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) strike is beyond its control.

EEDC’s spokesman, Emeka Ezeh, said this in a statement issued on Thursday.

The NLC in Imo, on November 1, shut down Egbu Transmission Station, which is EEDC’s source of electricity supply, leaving it with no energy to distribute to its customers, a development that has left the whole of Imo in a blackout.

Mr Ezeh described the situation as unfortunate and explained that with EEDC’s power source at the Egbu station shut down by the union, there was no way the company could get power to distribute to its customers in Imo.

“We can only distribute the power that we receive from stations operated by the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) and in this case, the station catering for our customers in Imo has been shut down by the labour union,” he said.

The EEDC official sympathised with customers in Imo over the inconveniences the development had caused them and expressed hope that the parties involved would resolve their differences for normalcy to return.

The statement said the company was handicapped, losing revenue running into millions of naira.

“As a distribution company, our primary source of supply is from the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) stations, and once there is disruption in the chain, we won’t be able to deliver service to our customers,” the statement noted.

EEDC, allaying fears of customers concerned they might be billed for electricity not consumed, noted that “the company does not bill for service not rendered.”

It added, “The impact of the power outage currently experienced will reflect on the December bill, which will be for energy consumed in the month of November. 

“Whereas the November bill, which is for energy that has been consumed in the month of October, has to be paid for by the customers, as it has no relation with the current power situation being experienced.”

(NAN)