The Northern Electricity Distribution Company (NEDCo) has confiscated over 300 electricity meters from residents in Tamale suspected of stealing power, following a two-day early-morning operation.<\/p>\n
The exercise, conducted between 5:30 and 6:30 a.m., focused on the Kalpohin and Kukuo communities.<\/p>\n
In an interview with JoyNews, NEDCo\u2019s Corporate Communications Manager, Maxwell Kotoka, explained that more than 300 individuals were found illegally bypassing their meters and engaging in other forms of power theft.<\/p>\n
\u201cOver just two days, during early morning hours, and covering only two communities, we have caught over 300 people guilty of meter bypass and power theft,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
NEDCo officials had earlier disclosed that the company loses about 46% of its electricity to theft\u2014a trend that endangers the firm\u2019s financial stability.<\/p>\n
The situation is especially critical in the Tamale Metropolis, where illegal connections and tampered meters have caused major revenue losses.<\/p>\n
Mr. Kotoka added that many meters were damaged during the bypassing process, incurring further financial costs for the company.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe unfortunate thing is that a significant number of these meters\u2014expensive smart meters\u2014have been destroyed. And the same consumers who damaged them turn around to complain when new meters aren\u2019t readily available,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He warned that such widespread damage is undermining NEDCo\u2019s capacity to serve new customers.<\/p>\n
\u201cThink about the challenge. We invest in meters, and in just two days across two communities, over 300 are destroyed. So when we get new meters, we are forced to replace the damaged ones instead of allocating them to new applicants,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n
Mr. Kotoka also linked the theft to broader infrastructure issues. He revealed that seven new transformers had been installed in the Tamale Metropolis, along with others in Kpandai, Kete Krachi, and Bimbilla.<\/p>\n
He explained that 11 transformers were initially replaced\u2014seven in Tamale, two in Kpandai, and one each in Kete Krachi and Bimbilla.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf the government invests in such infrastructure, and people steal power instead of paying, there will inevitably be negative consequences,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He confirmed that legal action would be taken against those found guilty.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The Northern Electricity Distribution Company (NEDCo) has confiscated over 300 electricity meters from residents in Tamale suspected of stealing power, following a two-day early-morning operation. The exercise, conducted between 5:30 and 6:30 a.m., focused on the Kalpohin and Kukuo communities. In an interview with JoyNews, NEDCo\u2019s Corporate Communications Manager, Maxwell Kotoka, explained that more than […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":123457,"featured_media":16720,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3537,41],"tags":[5276,3768],"class_list":["post-16719","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-energy","category-general-news","tag-illegal-connections","tag-nedco"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16719","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/123457"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16719"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16719\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16721,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16719\/revisions\/16721"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/16720"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16719"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16719"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16719"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}