PURC orders ECG to present report of operations by April 2 over poor service delivery
The Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) has ordered the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) to present to it a comprehensive report of its operations in relation to tariff revenue allocation, regulatory audit data and operational matters among others by close of day April 2, 2024.
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In a statement by the commission, it explained that the order, which was issued under Sections 3 and 24 of the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission Act, 1997 (Act 538), was as a result of some major observations it had made concerning a general decline in the quality-of-service delivery, including increasing power outages across ECG service areas from January 1, 2024, to date.
Various areas of the country have been experiencing interruptions in their electricity supply over the past couple of weeks, prompting citizens to express their dissatisfaction with the ECG on social media.
They, together with opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) have been calling on the company to either solve the problem or provide the public with a timetable so they know when their lights will go out.
On March 11, 2024, the ECG announced that 630 distribution transformers across its operational areas have been identified to be full to capacity and overloaded due to increased power demand. As a result, it said some aspects of the public would experience power outages during peak hours from 7pm to 11pm.
Therefore, the PURC has also ordered the ECG to provide details of the ratings and current loadings of the overloaded distribution transformers, the GPS location of all overloaded distribution transformers, ratings of the new transformers to be installed in each location, timelines and duration for injection of transformers for each location and load management timetable corresponding with the timelines and duration for each transformer injection.
The statement also stressed that if the ECG refuses to comply with any provisions of the directive, it commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding five hundred penalty units and in default of payment, the principal officer or the secretary of the public utility is liable to a term of imprisonment not exceeding two years.
Below is a copy of the order by the PURC
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