West Nile to get prepaid power

By Samuel Sanya

West Nile districts of Arua, Nebbi, Koboko, Maracha-Terego, Packwach, and Yumbe are set for prepaid electricity as the service provider aims to improve revenues and cut energy losses.

Installation of the support infrastructure is ongoing and is expected to be complete by July. The system will enable customers to purchase as much energy as they can afford, improving electricity usage by customers and revenue collection by the Aga-khan-owned West Nile Rural Electrification Company (WENRECo).

WENRECo operates the 3.5Mega Watt Nyagak hydro power plant on Nyagak River that currently supplies the region.

The company has slightly over 4,000 customers or 1% of the West Nile region with plans to add over 1,000 new connections by the end of the year.

Fabian Ahaisibwe, the WENRECo regional manager, said: “Our customers will be able to control and monitor their day-to-day power usage and manage their utility budgets better.”

“All new connection applicants will also be on the prepaid metering system. This conversion will not imply an additional cost to the existing end-user,” he added.

The system is similar to the prepaid electricity system currently being rolled out by Umeme in the central region. Electricity users buy prepaid electricity tokens or voucher cards from vendors, load the units onto their prepaid meters and then receive power.