PURC, power producers meet on erratic power
The Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) yesterday met with the independent power producers association to chart a way forward in the power crisis that has plagued the country.
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Speaking to the Daily Graphic after the meeting, the Public Relations Officer of the PURC, Ms Nana Yaa Jantuah, said the meeting was to evaluate the load-shedding exercise.
The meeting agreed to communicate the cause of the erratic power situation effectively to consumers and find an answer to the unreliable situation.
“What is coming up strongly is that the crisis has occurred because we are losing 400 megawatts at Akosombo because only four turbines are running.”
She said the two critical things considered were that consumers would be made to understand the cause of the crisis and find an antidote to the erratic nature of the power rationing.
“Going forward it has been agreed that by the first quarter of the year there should be an improvement,” she said.
New schedule
Last December, industries were made to enjoy six days of continued power supply and suffer two days of power outage, including Sundays, under a new load-shedding schedule released by the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG).
Under the new schedule, residential areas also enjoyed 24 hours of power supply and 12 hours of power outage, while the Chamber of Mines and steel industries also agreed to reduce the power they used by 25 per cent and essential service providers remained exempted.
Effect
Meanwhile, Ghanaians have had to endure unstable power supply since 2012 as a result of the low water level in the Akosombo and the Bui dams, inadequate gas supply from Nigeria and the shutdown of power generators for maintenance work.
The load-shedding exercise has adversely affected industries, small-scale businesses and individuals, resulting in some companies shutting down.
On some occasions, the ECG prepared a schedule for load shedding but failed to abide by it, thereby making it difficult for consumers to plan effectively towards power outages. The unreliability of power supply has increased in January as a result of the shortfall from the Akosombo Dam.
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