The Abia government says it has intensified reforms in the power sector to strengthen regulation, improve supply reliability, and consolidate the state’s emerging electricity market framework.

The commissioner for power and public utilities, Ikechukwu Monday, said this in Umuahia on Monday, while briefing journalists on the outcomes of the State Executive Council meeting.

Mr Monday said the Abia government had issued interim licences to key operators as part of ongoing reforms to the state electricity market.

He said that the Abia State Electricity Regulatory Authority recently granted interim licences to three companies, comprising two distribution firms and one generation company.

According to him, the distribution licences issued to Aba Power Limited, which serves the Aba Ring-Fenced area, and New Era Limited, which serves Umuahia and parts of Abia North, while Geometric Power operates as the generation company.

Mr Monday explained that the interim licences were part of a transitional process to migrate existing permits previously issued by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission to the state regulatory authority.

He said those were the results of establishing the Abia electricity market. He also said that the process allowed for technical and commercial reviews, after which full licences would be issued to operators across designated clusters in the state.

He further explained that over 100,000 meters had already been deployed in Aba by Aba Power Limited as part of the efforts to eliminate estimated billing and improve accountability in electricity consumption. He said that similar metering expansion would take place in Umuahia, while new investments were expected in the Umuahia ring-fenced area.

Mr Monday also said that the government was engaging communities to ensure cooperation in the deployment of power infrastructure, adding that some disruptions were being addressed through consultations with stakeholders.

He said that the state power project in the Abam axis, which involved transmission line construction, had reached advanced stages, adding that efforts were ongoing to resolve isolated incidents affecting infrastructure.

On water supply, the commissioner said that the state government was implementing several rehabilitation projects across the state.

(NAN)