Thogh many Nigerians have allegedly perfected the art of stealing electricity over the years, the situation looks likely to worsen, at least that is what some Abuja residents are saying, according to a News Agency of Nigeria report.
It is also likely that the ubiquitous distribution company staff who visit to monitor the activities of these thieves are also likely to come under more attacks, if they are not adequately secured.
Moreover, Everyday.ng reports that there has been a rash of the purchase of solar panels and inverters by residents who can afford them, in the face of an alleged glut from Chinese manufacturers in the international market.
While the price of solar panels continue to tumble elsewhere, it appears to be rising in Nigeria. An interesting report by the Financial Times of London early this month, says solar panels have become so cheap that they are being used to build garden fences in the Netherlands and Germany, as a boom in Chinese production saturates the global market.
The report adds: “The panels capture less sunlight when used as fencing than they do on roofs, but the process saves on high labour and scaffolding costs, according to analysts and posts on social media by households that have installed them. “This is the result of solar panels getting so cheap that we’re just putting them everywhere,” said Jenny Chase, lead solar analyst at BloombergNEF.
“Since installation cost — labour, scaffolding — is the vast majority of the cost of installing a rooftop PV [photovoltaic] system, it can make sense.”
“Why put up a fence when you can just put up a load of solar panels, even if they’re not aligned exactly to the sun?” says Martin Brough, head of climate research at BNP Paribas Exane.
“Where the panels themselves are just incredibly cheap, the constraints become the installation costs and the sites . . . you get a bit of a DIY mentality.”
Solar panel supply globally will reach 1,100 gigawatts by the end of this year, or three times the present forecast for demand, the International Energy Agency estimates. A glut of manufacturing in China is driving this trend, it said. At the same time, installations have become more expensive, mainly owing to rising labour costs, and the wait for panels to be connected to electricity grids is testing industry and householder patience. Grid capacity issues affect most countries and cannot be easily and speedily resolved.
Meanwhile, some electricity consumers in the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, have appealed to the Federal Government to review the new tariff downwards to avoid electricity theft.
Some of the consumers who are mainly business owners told the News Agency of Nigeria on Wednesday that if the cost of electricity remained high some of them consumers might by-passing their meters.
The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, had announced an increase in electricity tariff paid by Band A customers from N68/KWh to N225/KWh.
”I am appealing to government to review the tariff downward as such increase can lead to some consumers by-passing their meters and this is not good for Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC),” he said.
On his part, Samuel Kolawole also a printer said that the cost indicated in the new tariff was so high that it could negatively impact on businesses.
He said that government should try and reduce the tariff so that it can benefit the rich and the poor people.
According to him, 20 hours of electricity is good for business owners as this will reduce the cost of buying fuel or diesel for generators but the pricing should be business friendly.
”We are appealing to government to reduce the tariff to what we can afford so as to benefit everyone,” he said.
Also speaking on the issue, Abel Ajibola, also a graphic designer at Murg Plaza said that government means well for the people but the new tariff is outrageous, especially for small business owners.
Mr Ajibola said that he would be glad if the government can review the tariff so that electricity consumer would not be tempted to start stealing electricity.
● Additional report by NAN
