Bayelsa State indigenes, business owners and residents will soon begin to enjoy 24-hour power supply, as final installation of the 60 megawatts (MW) gas turbine is over 85 per cent completed.

However, electricity consumers in the South-East have urged the Enugu Electricity Regulatory Commission (EERC) to urgently resolve any pending tariff impasse between it and Mainpower Electricity Distribution Limited (MPDL).

A tour of the turbines by journalists, yesterday, led by the Technical Adviser on Media and Public Affairs to the Governor, Wisdom Ikuli, showed that intense work was ongoing at the Imiringi site.

Supervised by the Director of Operations, Bayelsa Electric Company Limited (BECL), it was observed that work on the Swift Gear, which would distribute power to all parts of Yenagoa and environs, was already completed, while installation of other accessories was ongoing.

Speaking after the site tour, Ikuli said, when fully completed and the state is lit up, many businesses would spring up to improve the state’s economy. He, however, reminded residents and electricity consumers in the state that the good gesture of the state government was not free; hence, they should be ready to pay, adding that even the Presidency pays for electricity.

The gas to fire the turbines, he noted, is bought. The Director of Operations, BECL, Steve Bubagha, assured that the light will come in December to every nook and cranny of Yenagoa, the state capital. He stated that six gas turbines had been installed while the remaining two were on their way to the state.

SOUTH East Electricity Consumers Association (SEECA), which wrote to EERC, said Enugu, being the capital of Igboland and the defunct East Central State, required peace and stable power supply in a manner that will neither exploit the consumers nor the DisCo in charge.

The letter signed by the Coordinator of SEECA, Dr Sebastine Okafor, stated that the dispute over the July 18, 2025, tariff order had thrown many communities into darkness and deepened confusion in the electricity supply chain. He also stated that such a sensitive matter affecting the lives of millions of residents should not be allowed to linger.

According to him, the association had carefully studied the issues surrounding the tariff order and observed that both parties have entrenched positions which have stalled progress.

In its recommendations, SEECA urged EERC to suspend the implementation of the disputed tariff order until the matter is fully addressed, while calling for the appointment of an independent and technically grounded third party to review the contested figures and mediate between both sides.