The Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) has announced a 27.15% hike in tariff for electricity and a 21.55% hike in water tariff effective September 1, 2022.
PURC said it made a careful analysis and extensive consultations with industry players before arriving at the decision.
The decision follows proposals made by the Electricity Company of Ghana and the Ghana Water Company Limited to increase their tariffs by 148% and 334% respectively.
According to the Executive Secretary of the Commission, Dr. Ishmael Ackah at a press conference to announce the tariffs on Monday, August 15, an assessment of the economic conditions of consumers was also considered.
“The end user electricity tariffs payable by consumers, “The commission considered the cost of power influenced by growth in demand, the weighted average cost of gas, inflation, and the exchange rate. Most importantly, the commission was guided in its decision by the supreme interest of consumers and the general economic conditions prevailing in the country”.
He said these changes have implications on the ability of the utilities to ‘keep the lights on and the water flowing.
He noted that based on the proposals submitted, Ghana Water demanded a 300% increase in end-user tariff, while ECG and Northern Electricity Distribution Company (NEDCo) proposed 148 and 113 percent respectively; the Volta River Authority (VRA) 37%, and Ghana Grid Company Limited (GRIDCo) 48% among others.
“After receiving these proposals the condition carried out the regulatory audit. We went round to confirm the figures to check whether the investment they say they’ve done are in place and are also serving customers to also know the stage of these investments. Apart from this, we did a number of analyses looking at benchmarks, international practices, and the historical cost of the utilities.”
Dr. Ackah said the aforementioned were considered before they passed on what he describes as costs that are prudent and fair to both the consumer and utility.
He also said the commission gave thought to the role of small and medium-scale enterprises in the country before coming out with the tariffs.
Here is the PURC’s statement.
Source: Rosemond Asmah/ATLFMNEWS
