The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has rejected claims by Ikeja Electric (IKEDC) that grid instability was responsible for recent outages affecting some Band A electricity feeders, blaming reduced power generation caused by gas supply constraints and lower hydroelectric output.

In a statement on Friday, TCN described as inaccurate and misleading IKEDC’s public notice on Friday, which attributed outages recorded on November 3 and 4 to grid instability.

TCN said the Nigerian Independent System Operator (NISO), which is responsible for determining the causes of disturbances on the national grid, had not attributed the outages to any failure of its transmission network.

According to TCN, NISO had explained that reduced gas supply to thermal power plants and lower water inflows into hydroelectric stations had affected electricity generation, leaving less energy available for distribution companies.

The transmission company said its network could only deliver the electricity generated and allocated to it, adding that reduced generation had resulted in fewer supply hours and increased load shedding across distribution networks.

Citing its records for November 1 and 2, TCN said 68 per cent of interruptions on feeders supplying IKEDC resulted from frequency-control load shedding linked to low generation.

It attributed another 26 per cent to IKEDC’s failure to comply with load allocations, as well as faults or maintenance on its distribution network, while the remaining six per cent involved TCN maintenance, switching or line limitations.

Regarding the 46 interruptions recorded on the 33kV feeders named in IKEDC’s notice, TCN said 29 were linked to low generation, while 14 were attributed to issues on IKEDC’s network.

TCN urged electricity distribution companies to rely on verified information from NISO when explaining supply disruptions to customers, warning that inaccurate claims could mislead consumers and undermine public confidence in the electricity sector.