Orash Electricity Company: The Disruptor That Is Shattering EEDCs Monopoly

*Imo State’s Orashi Electricity Company: The Disruptor That Is Shattering EEDC’s Monopoly*

Prince Eze Ugochukwu 

For a long time, if you lived in Imo State and needed electricity, you had only one company to deal with: the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company, or EEDC. They were the only game in town for the entire southeast. But now, that's all changing very quickly. What started as a simple change in the rules has exploded into a major corporate fight.

The whole situation was sparked by a new law called the Electricity Act of 2023. Think of it like this: before, only the big federal government in Abuja could make all the decisions about power. This new law handed a lot of that power back to individual states. It said that states like Imo are now allowed to create their own electricity markets, set up their own regulators, and invite new companies to compete.

Section 2(2) of the Act removed electricity from the Exclusive Legislative List and placed it on the Concurrent List, granting states the authority to generate, transmit, and distribute power within their territories. 

More crucially, Sections 116–120 and the Fifth Schedule empowered states to create their own electricity markets and regulatory bodies, effectively carving out geographic areas from the licences previously held by the old distribution companies (DisCos). 

Acting on this new power, the national electricity regulator(NERC) officially handed over control for Imo State to a new local body called the Imo State Electricity Regulatory Commission(ISERC). This single move stripped the old company, EEDC, of its exclusive right to be the only power distributor in Imo. It opened the door for a new competitor, called Orashi Electricity Company.

Orashi isn't wasting any time. With a license from the new state commission and the full support of the state governor's plan to "Light Up Imo," they are moving fast. They are promising a future without the constant power cuts and confusing bills that people have complained about for years. Their plan is to use modern, digital equipment that can be installed street by street, promising a more reliable and modern service.

Unsurprisingly, the old company, EEDC, is not happy. They've accused Orashi of breaking the rules and even vandalism. But to many people watching, these complaints sound like the protests of a company that has just lost its monopoly and is scared of losing customers and money. 

As one energy expert put it, if Orashi can actually provide stable power and fair bills, people will switch to their services. This competition, he says, is exactly what the new law was meant to create.

For the everyday person in cities like Owerri, Okigwe, and Orlu, who have put up with dark homes and unfair charges for decades, the arrival of a new company that treats electricity as a real service feels like a revolution. 

Whether this forces EEDC to improve everywhere or just makes Imo a better-powered state, one thing is certain: the longtime monopoly on power in the southeast is breaking apart, and Imo State is right at the center of the crack-up after Abia State did so with Geometric Power Limited.