By Izunna Okafor, Awka
In continuation of its strategic engagement with key industrial customers across Anambra State, the Management of FirstPower Electricity Distribution Company Limited on Thursday, June 18th, visited Juddy Bolema Industry Limited, one of its foremost Maximum Demand (MD) customers, showcasing its commitment to customer satisfaction and improved service delivery.
The working visit to the company’s facility at Nkpor, Idemili North Local Government Area, formed part of the ongoing customer engagement initiative recently launched by the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of FirstPower, Engr. Okechukwu Okafor, to interact directly with major industrial customers, evaluate the quality of services being rendered, identify operational challenges and jointly develop practical and lasting solutions for improved electricity supply.
The FirstPower delegation, led by the MD, included the Chief Technical Officer, Engr. Dr. Emeka Egbujor; the Chief Commercial Officer, Dr. Mrs. Nnenna Priscilla Obi; the District Business Manager for Obosi District, Mrs. Ogochukwu Mgbatogu; the Head of Operations, Engr. Mrs. Ifeoma Uba; and the Head of Revenue Generation, Centre Two, Engr. Ifeanyi Orji, among other officials.
Receiving the delegation were the company’s Project Manager, Mr. Anthony Nwafor; Head of Engineering, Mr. Henry Udeme; Production Manager, Mr. Wisdom Chima; Internal Auditor, Mr. Kenneth Obike; Head of Accounts, Mr. Emeka Obialor; Head of Administration, Mr. Peters Ebuka; Accountant, Mr. Ngwaba Chibunna; alongside other senior officials of the company.
Beyond discussing electricity supply and customer service, the FirstPower management also heartily commiserated with Juddy Bolema Industry over the recent fire outbreak that affected part of the company (most especially its warehouse), and resulted in significant losses, expressing sympathy and reaffirming the company’s solidarity during the difficult period.
Speaking during the meeting, the FirstPower MD, Engr. Okafor described the visit as a demonstration of FirstPower’s customer-centric philosophy, stressing that the company considers its industrial customers as strategic partners whose growth and operational success remain closely tied to the success of the electricity distribution company.
He explained that the objective of the engagement was to listen directly to the customer, understand its challenges, identify areas requiring intervention and reassure the company of FirstPower’s commitment to providing improved and reliable electricity services capable of supporting industrial productivity and economic development.
Reacting on behalf of Juddy Bolema Industry, the Head of Engineering, Mr. Henry Udeme, stated that the company’s major power-related concerns had earlier been communicated to FirstPower through a formal letter, with the restoration of electricity supply topping the list of priorities.
He also raised concerns relating to the company’s electricity bill for the previous month, check meters for bill reconciliation purposes, and the request for unbundling of its electricity supply arrangement.
However, providing detailed clarifications, the FirstPower’s technical and commercial team, alongside the MD, explained that the current absence of supply to the company’s dedicated feeder resulted from a fault on the feeder which had already been traced, identified and rectified, while restoration of supply now depends on the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN).
The FirstPower Team explained that TCN had requested the company (Juddy Bolema) to properly organise and standardise its electrical circuits, panels and connection boxes to ensure safer and more efficient operations before supply could be restored. According to them, the measure became necessary after faults traced to the company’s dedicated feeder were attributable to the explosion of a power transformer at the Awada Transmission Substation, which led to the current suspension of supply to the feeder.
The FirstPower team also assured the company of the necessary technical guidance to facilitate the reorganisation of the electrical installations, a process expected to commence immediately through the company’s (Juddy Bolema’s) contractor, to facilitate timely completion and restoration of supply.
On the metering concerns, the FirstPower team clarified that the existing non-energised meter at the facility is a transformer meter and not a feeder or line meter as earlier assumed by the company, explaining that such meter can only record the consumption of a single transformer and cannot be used for feeder reconciliation.
The management therefore advised the company to first meter each of its transformers, aggregate the readings and compare them with the feeder meter at the Awada TCN station before taking a final decision on unbundling.
The team further explained that the billing concerns could be attributable to line losses and therefore recommended that the proposed transformer meters should initially serve as monitoring tools rather than billing points, to enable both parties to analyse consumption patterns over time and make more informed decisions on the proposed unbundling, with the meters subsequently serving as billing points if necessary.
The Juddy Bolema management welcomed the clarifications and resolutions reached during the engagement, expressing optimism that the collaborative approach adopted by FirstPower would help address the outstanding issues and further strengthen the long-standing relationship between both organisations.
Thereafter, the FirstPower team proceeded on a working visit to the Awada TCN Substation, where they held further strategic discussions with the Assistant General Manager, Engr. Ifeanyi Okonkwo, and also inspected the damaged power transformer as well as other ongoing installations at the Station aimed at improving electricity supply and enhancing general quality of service to customers.
More photos from the events:
