We won’t let you pay those outrageous utility fees – PURC assures Ghanaians
The fears of consumers of the various utility products have been allayed following an assurance from the Public Utility Regulatory Commission that it has not yielded to some demands that were tabled by the utility providers.
It will be recalled that the Electricity Company of Ghana and the Ghana Water Company Limited for some time now have tabled in their demands of over a 100% increment in tariff to the PURC citing that it will help them to meet what they call operational cost.
Currently, the PURC is having meetings with all stakeholders across the country before announcing new tariffs.
Ishmael Edjekumhene, Chairman of the Technical Committee of the PURC said “PURC is considering the proposals presented by the utility providers, after which we will make a decision.”
“What I am certain of is no way will consumers be made to bear the outrageous cost.”
The Electricity Company of Ghana wants its tariffs to be adjusted by 148% for 2022 and with 7.6% average adjustments between the periods of 2023 to 2026.
According to ECG, 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.
The GWCL 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.
It said this has affected its ability to carry out repairs and replacements of aged and obsolete equipment and pipelines.
