THE PNG Power Limited (PPL) had been directed to declare war on power thieves and defaulters. The direction was given today by the Minister responsible for PPL, Hon. Richard Maru. He said this was part of the “Three-Step, Six-Month Plan” that was announced last month to rescue PPL and deliver cheaper and reliable electricity.
“Power thieves and defaulters account for more than a quarter of PPL’s electricity losses. The PPL Management has been tasked to put more efforts to crack down illegal connections and power theft, backed by nationwide meter audits and new detection technology,” said Minister Maru.
A recent report submitted by PPL highlighted the very high levels of non‑technical losses and widespread power theft occurring in a number of provinces over many years.
“The continued revenue leakage in these centres is unacceptable and requires decisive action from PPL. Based on this report, I have directed PPL to immediately commence a trial outsourcing arrangement for revenue collection in Mt. Hagen and Kundiawa. The main objective is to reduce power theft‑related losses and improve overall customer compliance in these high‑risk centres. If the results are
positive, then PPL can consider similar arrangements for other centres it operates,” said Minister Maru.
“This directive is issued to support PPL’s efforts to stabilise revenue performance and restore operational integrity in Mt. Hagen and Kundiawa in Ramu Grid,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Minister held the first-ever consultative roundtable meeting with PPL’s five major creditors (the Independent Power Producers) this morning to discuss the way forward in settling PPL’s debts of over K1.2 billion that it owes to the creditors. Further discussions will continue between the creditors and the Kumul Consolidated Holdings in the next week.
“Our priority is to settle all our creditors under a Scheme of Arrangement that is acceptable to both the Government and the creditors and supervised by the Courts once agreed,” said Minister Maru.
He further added: “I thank the Marape-Rosso Government for providing K100 million in the supplementary budget to assist PPL retire some of its long-term debts. I am confident that with the sale of all “B” and “C” Centres, PPL will generate additional revenue to assist retire its debts.”
The Minister had also directed PPL to put all Government departments and agencies on Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) so the long-term unpaid bills of the Government will be a thing of the past.