Effective July 1, this year, consumers of both electricity and water will pay more.
This follows a new tariff approval by the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC), which will see electricity rise by 3.49 per cent and water by 0.85 per cent across the board for all customers.
These adjustments have been carried out in line with the commission's mandate to review tariffs on a quarterly basis to reflect developments within the quarter.
The approval was announced yesterday in a statement issued and signed by the Executive Secretary of PURC, Dr Shafic Suleman.
It explained that the quarterly reviews track and incorporate movements in key operational factors, which are beyond the control of the Utility Service Providers (USPs), but key in operating the services offered.
“The PURC wishes to inform consumers of electricity and water that, the existing electricity and water tariffs have been reviewed upwards by 3.49 per cent and 0.857 per cent respectively effective July 1,2026,” the statement said.
It added that the operational factors were the exchange rate between the Ghana Cedi (GHS) and the dollar, domestic inflation rate, electricity generation mix, and the cost of fuel, mainly natural gas used to power the thermal plants.
The quarterly adjustments were undertaken by the commission to maintain the real value of the existing tariffs, which would enable the utility service providers to remain financially viable and to deliver on their services to consumers, while bearing in mind the impact of these tariffs on the wellbeing of consumers in general, it explained.
Factors considered
The statement explained that the commission, in arriving at the new tariffs, considered a number of key macroeconomic and operational indicators that directly affected the cost of utility service delivery.
It applied a weighted average Ghana cedi-to-US dollar exchange rate of GH¢11.2228 to one dollar for the third quarter of 2026.
The projected rate was based on the actual inter-bank average selling exchange rate recorded between April 1 and June 19, this year.
The statement said the figure represented a 0.2 per cent depreciation of the cedi compared to the second-quarter rate of GH¢11.1931 to one dollar.
On inflation, PURC used a three-month average inflation rate of 3.43 per cent for the review period, which reflected a downward adjustment of 17.74 per cent.
Natural gas and generation mix
The PURC said it applied a Weighted Average Cost of Gas of $7.9708 per million British thermal units (MMBtu) for the quarter under review.
That figure represented a decline of 1.58 per cent from the previous quarter's gas price of $8.0988 per MMBtu.
With regard to power generation, the statement said the projected hydro-thermal generation mix remained unchanged from the previous quarter, accounting for 20.90 per cent of the electricity mix, while thermal generation contributed 79.10 per cent.
Water
The PURC said water tariffs were also adjusted marginally upwards by 0.85 per cent during the same period.
The commission expressed appreciation to stakeholders for their continued support in implementing the quarterly tariff review mechanism in line with its rate-setting guidelines.
