The Transmission Company of Nigeria and the Benin Electricity Distribution Company are blaming each other for the recent power outage affecting parts of Benin district.
In a statement on Sunday, TCN’s General Manager, Public Affairs, Ndidi Mbah, said BEDC misled the public by blaming TCN for the outage.
Mbah explained that TCN only carried out planned maintenance at the Amukpe Transmission Station on March 11, which was completed the same day, and power was restored.
She insisted that TCN’s maintenance work did not cause the blackout BEDC customers are experiencing.
BEDC had earlier said on March 14 that power outages in Sapele, Abraka, Ughelli/Shell, and industrial areas were due to TCN’s maintenance activities.
But Mbah dismissed this claim. “TCN wishes to address the publication by BEDC, which wrongly blamed TCN for the blackout. This is not true,” she said.
“For clarity, TCN only carried out planned maintenance on March 11 at Amukpe Transmission Station. It was completed the same day, and bulk power supply was restored.”
She added that the real cause of the power supply issues in most of the affected areas was a fault on BEDC’s 33kV feeders.
Mbah confirmed that the only true part of BEDC’s statement was about the Ughelli/Shell 33kV feeder T1 60MVA, which tripped due to a fault on March 14.
She assured that TCN was working to restore bulk power supply to the affected feeder.
Mbah urged BEDC to provide accurate information to its customers instead of misleading the public.
She also emphasized that TCN remains committed to ensuring efficient and reliable electricity transmission across the country.
