Unregistered generators dangerous—Escom

Escom has said unregistered generators pose a danger to its employees, especially those conducting maintenance work.

Escom manager for Central Region Ngwire Mwenifumbo told the media last week that generators transmit power back to their lines even after the power utility has switched them off.

“We normally use figures from the Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority [Mera] to know how many generators are in the area because the power coming from generators can cause serious accidents.

“In the absence of those figures, the lives of our employees are at stake because even after switching off our lines in a particular area to carry out maintenance, generators still transmit power back to our system. This is why we insist that generators should be registered with Mera,” said Mwenifumbo.

A spot-check survey by Business News has shown that most people do not register their generators with Mera.

“I bought a generator last year and did not bother to register it because I was not aware of that requirement.

“I think Mera has not done a good job to sensitise people to the need to register generators,” said Jones Stamalevi, a resident of Lilongwe’s Area 23 resident.

Mera spokersperson Edward Mponda confirmed that the energy body is yet to conduct a robust campaign to ensure that people register their generators.

Most people have standby generators for use during power blackouts.