–To Stage Peaceful Rally February 13 as Caveat to GOL
Recently, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Board Chairman of the Liberia Electricity Corporation (LEC), Prof. Monie R. Captan through a WhatsApp communication to the Publisher of Integrity Watch newspaper, Mr. Charles Yates following inquiries on the status of electricity connection for the city of Brewerville in Montserrado County electoral District #17, Mr. Captan told Publisher Yates that there was good news in the making for the people of Brewerville City that LEC is scheduled to connect the city to the power grid in 2023, having begun engagement with the World Bank, chief financier of the electricity expansion program in Liberia.
According to Integrity Watch publisher, CEO Captan disclosed that the delay to connect Brewerville City and other communities in Electoral District #17 in Montserrado was due to donor project plans.
However, Mr. Captan’s revelation that Montserrado District #17 will be connected in 2023 in keeping with the donor plans, a group of residents in the area have begun to mobilized to stage what they term as a peaceful rally on February 13, 2023 to draw government’s attention to their plight when it comes to lack of electricity in their District.
Under the banner: “District #17 Movement for Affordable Electricity (DISMAE)”, the aggrieved residents’ chairman, Alvin Sonpon told IPNEWS that since 2018 they have engaged the Liberia Electricity Corporation (LEC) for the need to have them connect to the LEC power grid, when the Power Sub-Station along Hotel Africa road was being constructed by MHB, Power Ltd.
Mr. Sonpon said in 2021 when the residents of District #17 noticed that MHB, Power Ltd, had stopped all projects in the District regarding the connection of LEC power grid for the residents, they sent delegation to LEC to inquire but was told it was due to lack of funds.
He said the World Bank, Africa Development Bank and the FW Bank of Germany have been there for Liberia regarding the restoration of electricity throughout the country.
He said the LEC told them it was about bidding, mapping to give the LEC sufficient time for the connecting to Mount Coffee and the CSLG in the World Bank project.
Mr. Sonpon noted that Transco-Liberia which is responsible for Liberia have tried but the issue is about donor commitment of delivering the funds for the project.
Mr. Sonpon noted that the said Peaceful Rally to Connect District # 17 is a caveat to the Government of President George Weah, who is seeking re-election to do the right thing for the people of District #17 or else, they will boycott the 2023 elections, which will make him to get re-elected.
According to Mr. Sonpon, the biggest electoral district in Montserrado has not benefitted from the Power grid of LEC, but yet and still the power lines are passing through the District. He said the February peaceful rally will wake up the government to make sure that the right thing is done for the District other than that, they should not blame the District as it will boycott the elections in October 2023.
More Damnations for LEC’s Load Shedding – As LEC Urges Its Customers to Conserve Energy
Meanwhile, the management of the Liberia Electricity Corporation (LEC) is being condemned from most quarters following its announcement that “it has become necessary to institute limited load shedding.” It says “Load shedding schedules will be managed hourly and daily in response to peaks in energy consumption.”
The power supplier’s announcement was made to the public through the Government of Liberia’s Ministry of Information, Cultural Affairs and Tourism (MICAT) on Tuesday, January 17, 2022.
LEC said its network peak load has increased from average load of 55 megawatts (MW) to as high as 73.2 megawatts during the evening hours.
“LEC contracted 27MW from CL Energies of La Cote d’Ivoire to help compensate for its energy supply deficit, which represents the maximum allocation available to each CLSG country. As a result of the increase in energy demand, LEC has exceeded its allocation from CL Energies. Consequently, CL Energies has informed the LEC that it cannot provide additional energy at this time because of limited energy supply. Furthermore, energy supplied from Mt. Coffee hydropower plant has declined due to low water levels.”
Justice Minister Frank Musah Dean (with mouse), who was acting in consultation with the Vice President, turned on the power LEC further said that in addition to the 27 MW supplied by CL Energies, it can generate, on its own, 18.5MW from the Mt. Coffee, and this depends on the St. Paul River’s inflow. “LEC will meet a demand of approximately 50MW this Dry Season, compared to 14MW supplied during the last Dry Season. It is therefore expected that load shedding will be limited in scope and duration, lasting until the return of the Rainy Season in June 2023.”
Meanwhile, the power supplier has surged its customers to conserve energy and turn off appliances and lights when not in use, especially during the evening hours when consumption is exceedingly high.
Seconds after the MICAT folks had posted the “bad” news on their Facebook wall, the damnations began to fly in from every nook and cranny.
One Facebooker with the name Ma Annie Son wrote: “I thought you guys said we got West Africa Power Pool? Why load shedding again this dry season?? So so vlah!” Another person, Robert E Cummings, wrote: “So so scam wat load shedding when u have the West Africa power pool. I just knew that whole news was a big Vlah.”
Johnnie Scientific Gbayelakpor: “I thought you guys said that we will have 24 hours stable electricity again? I na even buy all my ACs you na start talking about conserving energy.”
Sam Musa: “Look for money and construct a new dam of 250 to 300 megawatts to avoid embarrassment in the future. The population is growing so too is investment in infrastructure.”
Some of those somewhat disappointed with this news, took his frustration further to the Minister of Finance and Development Planning, Mr. Samuel Tweah and his boss, President George Weah.
Jethro Emmanuel Kolleh: “Dear LEC, we do not hold you responsible for this gross ineptitude and incompetence but Weah. As long as the president doesn’t know his left from right, nothing is going to work effectively under his watch. Weah is a political curse to this nation. Until he’s ousted in the soonest of time, nothing will work under his watch! Besides LEC’ perennial power shedding brouhaha, is there any other institution that works effectively under this football-ish man? Absolutely not! Hopefully, by this time next year, we will have a new president and managing director. There will be no ministry of information.”
Quenton Hodges: “I thought loud mouth Samuel Tweah said that issue with power shedding is resolved? This entire government is a scam.”
Lindsay Gould: “Oh yes. I made a complaint of my meter been damaged for seven months now no replacement. I was there yesterday again all I was told is that your complaint is in. How do I get current? I will no option now but to connect myself. I am tired now oh. We want pay money LEC is saying they don’t want it.”
What LEC Said Last Year
On Thursday, December 1, 2022, LEC said it was taking a huge step in resolving the issue of acute power outages during the Dry Season. Liberia’s Dry Season runs from mid-October to mid-April.
On that December 1st day, the Acting CEO of LEC, Mr. Monie R. Captan, was joined by other government officials, members of the diplomatic corps, and development partners, representatives of CI Energies, Transco CLSG, LERC, and other dignitaries to officially mark the connection of the Liberia electricity grid to the CLSG transmission line, thereby commencing the flow of electricity from the La Cote d’Ivoire to Liberia.
According to the LEC, the CLSG connection would have increased LEC’s power generation capacity by 27 Megawatts. “The power to be added on, amounts to about 50% of what Mt. Coffee Hydro currently generates,” it added.
“This additional power should help us go a long way in addressing our dry season needs,” said Mr. Monie R. Captan, Acting CEO and Chairman of the Board, Liberia Electricity Corporation (LEC). “La Cote d’Ivoire is not giving us free electricity. This Power Purchase Arrangement (PPA) is a commercial agreement requiring Liberia to pay for the electricity it receives. Our goal is to work with communities in making this agreement sustainable and successful through legal connections and regular payment of electricity bills.”
LEC’s PPA with CI Energies and CIE, is a commercial agreement for the purchase and supply of electricity which will be gradually increased to meet growing energy demand in Liberia. From all indication, December 1, 2022, represents a big step forward for Liberia, in improving education, health, security and the livelihood of urban and rural communities. The agreement offers a long-term electricity supply arrangement between the parties and will ensure the viability of trade on the transmission line between benefitting countries.
The LEC management is confident that the country is getting closer to its national goal of increasing access to electricity for all Liberians. With the growing demand for electricity, the LEC management is encouraging all its customers currently connected to the national grid, to use electricity efficiently and avoid wasteful consumption.
