By Sulaiman Jalloh
The Director General of the Electricity Distribution and Supply Authority (EDSA) Joe-Lahai Sormana has said inasmuch as there are challenges in supplying sufficient power to every at a go, the President Bio led government is on the right trajectory in solving the country’s energy challenges.
He emphasized that his agency [EDSA] cannot distribute power to every resident in Freetown at once, saying if everyone gets power at the same time in Freetown, the availability will not be sufficient. He said President Bio’s dream is for every citizen and resident to have access to electricity.
“If everyone gets light at the same time in Freetown, we will not have light, and the dream of the President is that every citizen and resident to have access to light,” he said, while narrating the mandate of the agency which is to distribute and supply power.
“We don’t generate light, we buy and sell light,” he whispered, noting the amount of light in 2022, was 52 megawatt and customers were about 194,000, saying the demand of power supply has increased to 72 megawatts and the customer base has also increased, adding the government has increased the supply and will continue to do so.
Mr. Sormana said EDSA buys power from independent power providers, disclosing that the amount they use to buy power is more than what they sell to the consumers.
“We buy on average USD21 cent, while we sell USD18 cent,” the EDSA boss said, adding that they already experience loss before even selling out power.
Addressing journalists at the government weekly press briefing on Tuesday, March 26th, 2024 at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation conference hall, he said they are working with donor partners to increase the access to electricity, and that they are extending supply of electricity to the east end of the city, precisely waterloo. He called on people to be patient and allow the government to do the needful.
“You cannot give more than what you have,” Mr. Sormana said, adding there should be a safety consideration. He said government on the right path.
Speaking on challenges, the EDSA boss said they only inject power from only one station and that is the 161KV sub-station which is not run by EDSA but by the Electrical Generation and Transmission Company (EGTC) and that the cost they sell to customers is below what they buy from the generating company. “We only charge our customers lower than the amount we buy from Karpowership and the government has been subsidizing to keep EDSA light on,” he explained.
“All of us are contributing to bringing EDSA down,” he claimed, noting they are mindful of the challenges and that they are trying to minimize revenue loss. He however encouraged members of the public to help identify defaulters, especially power theft. He disclosed that some individuals have been arrested because of power theft, something he said is undermining the work of the agency.
Copy right –Printed in the Expo Times News on wednesday, April 3rd, 2024 (ExpoTimes News – Expo Media Group (expomediasl.com)
