Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company (KEDC) yesterday revealed the readiness of the company to build a $250 million meter manufacturing plant in Kaduna State before the end of 2016.
Alhaji Garba Haruna, Managing Director of the company said this at the flag-off of the distribution of 20,000 free smart electricity meters to customers in Kaduna State.
He said the plant would enhance availability of electricity meters in the company’s franchise states of Kaduna, Kebbi, Zamfara and Sokoto.
Already a site had been secured and work would soon begin to setup the plant and the target is to meet the company’s target of distributing 500,000 meters to its customers in the next five years.
Haruna said local production of the meters would add value to electricity distribution in the country.
Continuing, KEDC boss argued that “This will also reduce the cost of importing some of the components for producing the meters for our franchise states and the country.
“This will also create more employment opportunities for graduates and other supporting staff.”
He added that the idea to manufacture locally is designed to create jobs and cut costs.
Earlier in his remarks, the Chairman of the company, Alhaji Yusuf Hamisu, appealed to the Federal Government to introduce a robust monetary policy to stabilise the country’s currency.
He called also on the federal government to work towards the stability of the Naira review modalities for the supply of gas to indigenous power companies using dollar rate.
According to Hamisu, the current value of US dollar in the market has made the arrangement not investigations showed that the meter’s sharing formula is based on clearance of outstanding bills or paying 60 per cent of the amount they owe before getting a one phase meter, while those with up to N10,000 debts would pay in full to get three-phase meters.
