The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has dismissed claims by the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) that its maintenance activities caused electricity supply disruptions in parts of Delta State. In a statement issued on Saturday, March 15, TCN’s General Manager for Public Affairs, Ndidi Mbah, clarified that the outages were due to faults on BEDC’s 33kV feeders and not TCN’s operations.
The controversy began after BEDC released a statement on March 14 via social media, attributing power shortages in areas such as Abraka Commercial, Ughelli/Shell, and Sapele to TCN’s maintenance work. BEDC apologized to customers for failing to meet the minimum service level of 20 hours of electricity supply in these areas and linked the disruptions to TCN’s activities.
However, TCN refuted these claims, explaining that its only maintenance activity in the region was a planned outage at the Amukpe Transmission Station on March 11. This work was completed the same day, and bulk power supply was immediately restored. According to TCN, this maintenance did not affect BEDC’s ability to deliver power to its customers.
“The only accurate part of BEDC’s statement was regarding the tripping of the Ughelli/Shell 33kV feeder T1 60MVA on March 14 due to a fault,” TCN stated. “We are actively working to resolve this issue. However, all other areas mentioned by BEDC as experiencing power issues are due to faults on their own feeders.”
TCN urged BEDC to provide accurate information to its customers and avoid misrepresenting facts. The transmission company emphasized its commitment to ensuring reliable power transmission across the country while encouraging collaboration among stakeholders in the electricity value chain.
