PURC and utility services providers to meet today over the proposed increment of tariffs
A crunch meeting between the Public Utility Regulatory Commission and the service providers on the proposed tariff increment is expected to be held today.
This follows proposals by the Electricity Company of Ghana that its tariffs be increased by 148% for 2022 and with 7.6% average adjustments between the periods of 2023 to 2026 and the Ghana Water Company Limited for a 334% increment.
The ECG argued that the proposed sharp increment is due to the gap between the actual cost recovery tariff and PURC-approved tariffs as well as the cost of completed projects.
Ghana Water Company, which also followed suit in a similar document, is also proposing an increment in its tariffs to be able to at least recover its operational cost.
Some observers have also added their voices stressing that the amount consumers pay for electricity is woefully inadequate to sustain the operations of the ECG.
This upward adjustment they are calling for is coming at a time of great controversy over the high cost of living and worsening inflation.
But the service providers argue that the increment is necessary to keep them afloat.
GWCL stated 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.
It argues that this has affected its ability to carry out repairs and replacements of aged and obsolete equipment and pipelines
For the GWCL, the current domestic tariff of GHS3.29 per cubic metre to consumers within 0-5 cubic metres is less than what the poor in rural areas pay, which is about GHS10.
Making its case for the increment, the Ghana Water Company Limited says it is saddled with a monthly loan payment of $7.93 million which is 47.15 per cent of its average monthly revenue.
The GWCL says it has no option but to recover the loans through tariffs.
