Barriers to free electricity connections

In the last five months alone, the number of applicants for electricity connections to the country’s main distribution grid has increased by 53.8 per cent, according to industry statistics.

This is largely attributed to the government’s launch of the free Electricity Connections Policy (ECP) through which government wants 0.3 million households connected annually.

Applicants now do not have to pay Shs98,000 for a no pole service or the Shs326,000 for a one pole service.
And where they would have had to pay Shs41,300 as inspection fee, they now pay only Shs20,000.

As a result, Uganda’s largest power distributor by customer numbers (1.3 million customers), Umeme Limited, now receives a mean of 1,000 applicants daily, which is 22 percentage points above ECP’s average.
“The applications we receive have increased from an average of 650 per day to close to 1, 000,” Florence Nsubuga, Umeme’s chief operations officer, said recently in Kampala.
“That means people welcome the policy. As Umeme, we are committed to supporting the government agenda to connect more people to the grid,”Ms Nsubuga said.

To support the government’s free connections policy, the utility says it will continue expanding power infrastructure such as lines, transformers and substations.

Government rolled out ECP in November 2018 to increase access to electricity from 24 per cent to 60 per cent by 2027.

According to a Rural Electricity Agency (REA) document, ECP alone will contribute to the consumption of 500 megawatts (MW).
With the recent addition of the 183 megawatts generated from Isimba dam to the national grid, the country’s total power generated capacity has increased to 1,167 Megawatts (MW) which is beyond the peak demand of about 625MV.

In an earlier interview with the executive director of the Private Sector Foundation Uganda (PSFU), Mr Gideon Badagawa, it emerged that if the excess power is not consumed, the national treasury will have to meet the cost for the so-called deemed energy.

Issues
Now in the course of executing ECP, some challenges have manifested and call for action if ECP is to succeed.

First of all, there is a difference between the implementation agreements between REA and the utilities and the government policy.

Whereas the arrangement between REA and the distributors are specific in terms which applicants qualify for connection, ECP is general.

Many of those agreements, depending on the development partner funding the project, provide for either a no-pole or one pole service.

Up to 61.7 per cent of the $94.4 million REA had as of June 2018 secured from the International Development Association (IDA), African Development Bank, Agence Franҫaise de Développement, World Bank, Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH and KFW provides for applicants who will not demand for poles.

However, many of the people now seeking for connection require at least one pole for the wires/cables to reach their premises. Many are getting disappointed when told they do not qualify.

Only 38.3 per cent of the money raised will cater for connections that will require between one to six poles.
Two, there is a shortage of surveyors to assess if the internal wiring of premises was done according to the standards set by the Electricity Regulatory Authority and a shortage of vehicles.

By the end of 2018, Umeme had 44 surveyors. In that year alone, it connected 175,000 applicants.
Now it has to connect almost double the number and, according to its estimate, will require at least 200 surveyors.
Each, like many other employees or to fit into the provisions of the employment law, works five days a week.

Each is entitled to one-month leave, which if taken, will leave one with 11 months within which to do 12 months’ work.
The vehicles are meant to facilitate the movements of the surveyors and the connection crew. While in Kampala and Wakiso where houses are close to each other, in the countryside they scattered.

Also, distribution utilities must sink in their funds to connect the customers and wait for reimbursements, which often delay for months because REA’s auditors must first verify the connections.

The other challenge that had beset ECP was the pace at which the Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) was testing the meters. It was slow, initially but has now improved.

To address the shortage of surveyors, Umeme could recruit more. On the issue of vehicles, the Electricity Regulatory Authority (ERA) will have to consider approving the purchase of more. Of course, ERA is mindful of the impact on the tariff and of the utilities’ capacity to absorb approved funding.

But the government wants more premises connected to the grid.
Over the last three years, Umeme has been recruiting 100 technicians each year to connect more premises to the network.
REA might have to find a faster yet meticulous way of verifying connections and reimbursing distribution companies for the connections so that they can connect even more.

In an interview with Prosper Magazine recently, Mr Godfrey Turyahikayo, Rural Electrification Agency (REA)’s executive director, said REA is responsible for several policies aimed at meeting the national universal service goal, and each has its challenges.

He argued that success of the ECP will rely on addressing a variety of needs. He added that that while the free connection removes a major impediment, house-wiring costs remain high for most Ugandan families.
He said: “We, therefore, need to make house-wiring affordable but also ensure that consumers have the financing they need to get their premises wired. We also need to make sure there are enough wiremen, especially in rural areas where they are not readily available. Training, certification and assuring adequate supply-chain for house-wiring materials will be necessary.”

IMPACT OF ISIMBA DAM
After four years of hard work, Isimba Hydro Power Project was finally commissioned last month by President Yoweri Museveni as a fully-fledged Hydro Power Station.

The 183 megawatts of electricity that the Isimba dam in Kayunga District, will according to President Museveni, ensure there is no load shedding that the population once for years.

According to Mr Museveni, this development should be able to trigger commercial activities in economic sectors such as agriculture, manufacturing, services and ICT among other areas of the economy.

Energy Minister Eng. Irene Muloni said the completion of Isimba hydropower project will reinforce the country’s power capacity.
She said: “We are going to have adequate power to endure the dry seasons when most of the small hydro power plants produce power below installed capacity while during the rainy season when solar plants do not operate at rated capacity.”