Obrein Simasiku
Omuthiya-The Northern Region Electricity Distributor (Nored) has refuted claims the intermittent power outage experienced in Omuthiya two weeks ago was the result of illegal connections.
The power at the time was on average tripping every after 30 minutes; however, the cause of the trips remains unknown.
“The cause of the interruptions is under investigation. Illegal connections cannot be confirmed as a cause of the outages as the failures were mainly experienced on our medium voltage network, where illegal connection is rarely possible,” explained Nored’s public relations officer, Simon Lukas, while acknowledging that the Omuthiya 11kV network experienced intermittent power blackouts.
Lukas said an illegal connection rarely trips the grid, but can affect a dedicated network, or group of customers, emphasizing the cause remains a mystery and the network information is being analysed by engineers.
“The frequency however cannot be confirmed at this stage,” he said.
“Nored is currently running a meter verification and network study project. Other interventions include sensitising the customers or community to report any illegal connection they observed. As a token of appreciation to proactively deal with such an issue, the whistle-blower is given a reward once the illegal connection is confirmed,” said Lukas when asked what measures Nored has put in place to curb illegal electricity connections.
In terms of financial implications caused by illegal connections, Lukas could not provide the figures but said it is accounted for through the network losses, hence the amount can only be confirmed in the audited financial report. So far, he said, no prosecutions have been initiated against offenders but when caught such people have had their power disconnected and were penalized in line with the Electricity Act.