Evaluation of the effects of electrical power outages on small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs)

This study evaluated the effects of electrical power outages on Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs). The study was guided by two specific objectives of determining the cost of alternative sources of power supply and its impact on the profitability of businesses of selected SMEs in Elelenwo community in Obio/Akpor Local Government of Rivers State and to suggest possible ways of reducing the power outages in Elelenwo Community. The costs of power supply using private power generation and that of public power generation from Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution (PHED) were collected from selected SMEs in the study area. Findings established the fact that electrical power outages have significant negative effects on the businesses of small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) which in turns affect their profitability and sustainability. This was established by finding the correlations of the costs of running businesses with private power generation and that of using public power generation for selected SMEs and the results yielded negative correlation coefficients. The study also suggested possible ways of reducing the power outages.