Be sensitive to Ghanaians’ plight when negotiating utility tariffs – Chief of Staff to PURC
The Public Utility Regulatory Commission (PURC) has been impressed by Chief of Staff Frema Osei- Opare not to turn a blind eye to the current global economic conditions in the discharge of their duties.
She, however, appreciated PURC’s pivotal role in the ongoing engagement of stakeholders on the multi-year tariff review. She indicated that there is a need to strengthen the already established mechanisms to regulate utility companies to become financially viable.
Frema Osei-Opare made this appeal at the inauguration of an office complex for PURC in Koforidua.
“It is my fervent hope that all stakeholders will engage actively in this review process and make their voices heard so that the outcome will benefit the generality of all stakeholders,” she said.
It will be recalled that the Electricity Company of Ghana had proposed that its tariffs be increased by 148% for 2022 and with 7.6% average adjustments between the periods of 2023 to 2026.
The demand for such sharp upward adjustment, according to ECG, is due to the gap between the actual cost recovery tariff and PURC-approved tariffs as well as the cost of completed projects.
Also, the GWCL who wants an increment also argued that while the average tariff per cubic metre in 2019 was 1.27 USD, the same was reduced to USD 1.13 as a result of cedi depreciation.
The GWCL said this has affected its ability to carry out repairs and replacements of aged and obsolete equipment and pipelines.
