Gas Turbine to Cure Bayelsa’s Power Wailings – BYERA DG Rosalyn Dressman. By Chris Mark
Gas Turbine to Cure Bayelsa’s Power Wailings – BYERA DG Rosalyn Dressman.
By Chris Mark
The Director General of Bayelsa State Electricity Regulatory Agency (BYERA) Dr Rosalyn Dressman said the electricity challenges facing the state will soon be a thing of the past as the Prosperity Administration set to commission the gas turbine.
Speaking in Yenagoa during a stakeholders meeting she assured Bayelsians that the built Gas Turbine will solve the problem of epileptic power supply in the state.
According to her the state had suffered for too long when it comes to electricity supply, noting that the state was happy to fully take charge of the electricity market.
While assuring Bayelsians that Port Harcourt Electricity Company Distribution Company will not be responsible for managing the Has Turbine, she however said in the next three weeks they will know who will manage the Gas Turbine.
Speaking further, she said “It’s not PHED. I can assure you that there will be another forum in the next, let me say, two to three weeks. By that time, everything will be more clear. Then I can answer that question even better.
“Like I said in the forum, we have one responsibility. You give me service, I pay for the service. But in the case of electricity management, service is paid after it is received. Then it becomes a risky business and most of the time, people don’t pay for services after receiving it.
He pledged with the Yenagoa residents to pay for the services. “So I am using this forum to beg on Bayelsans please, dear Bayelsans, pay for your services. In that way, service can be provided better for you.”
She assured that the metropolis will be metered declaring that “metering is a very important factor because when we estimate bills for consumers, they definitely br happy with it. So the best thing to happen is for the houses to be metered. If all the houses are metered, people won’t be complaining that my house got more bills than necessary.
“So, we will make sure you have electricity given to you and we will make sure also that you pay your bills. We have set up a consumer support process, where everybody can come and tell us all your problems, if you do have one. I’m just a phone call away. My colleagues are a phone call away. We have the internet system, we created portals.
” In the next few days, consumers can even download the documents and download the apps and be able to, for example, complain about theft. It’s a serious matter, theft and vandalization. We don’t want our systems to be vandalized again.
“So we’re taking measures to make sure that it doesn’t’t happen again. So we are on our own path, we’re very committed. And we need also the public being the consumer to also show commitment by reporting vandalization when they see one, and by paying their bills when they get it.”
Also Speaking, Barrister Austin Adigio, Chairman Bayelsa Electricity Regulatory Agency also assured that the metering policy is a very important aspect of what his agency will be doing as regulators adding that the law that established his agency has abrogated estimated billing.
He disclosed that the agency will have the responsibility of regulating the whole sector adding that “we will need to have more interactions like this to get perspectives from various sectors and players, including the consumers, to arrive at a common ground for us to come up with policies that will address all the problems of the value chain and get the best of the new electricity market that is upon us.
He stated that customers and consumers are mandated to have meters to regulate their consumption and pay accordingly for the protection of customers or consumers.
“Once this estimated billing is removed completely, then you are paying for what you consume and by that you are protected, by that you are satisfied with what you are consuming and then pay adequate and effective tariff to get the business on a sustainable level and that is essentially what we are doing.”
Adigio disclosed that “by the time we come on full stream, the concerns of the customers will be taken care of, the concerns of the GENCOs are taken care of, the concerns of the distribution companies is taken care of and once we are all happy, then the business can thrive and Bayelsa will be an industrial hub in the very near future.”
He assured that there will be coordination and alignment between all the producers and the value chain adding that there will be that alignment with all the players in the sector to see that the best services are given to the consumers.
“And so there is not going to be a problem. We are all working, the producers and the value chain are all working together. There is that alignment at all times and then we will get to a good place where there will be no confusion as to who takes a more.
” Be rest assured that the electricity company will provide meter. New meters are coming as a matter of fact. It is part of the component of the new turbine that is coming. Consumers will be metered adequately so that you can pay efficient and affordable tariff and have sustainable power for whatever you want to use power for.
“60 megawatts is huge. It will take beyond the Yenagoa metropolis and the environs. And therefore, for that business to be running, we will have effective metering so that collections will be easy for the business to continue.”
