Accra — The Chairman of the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) has asked Ghanaians to be prepared to pay realistic prices for energy, once the West Africa Gas Pipeline (WAGP) project is completed.

"The days of subsidy on electricity should be over if we want to develop", Mr. Kwame Pianim said in response to a question on whether or not consumers of electricity would enjoy subsidy if crude is eventually substituted with gas in generating thermal electricity.

Speaking at the launching of a research document on natural gas code named "Guide to Natural Gas in Ghana", Mr. Pianim stated categorically, "there will be no subsidy if we are using gas, at least not when I am still the Chairman of the PURC."

The document, which was produced by the Resource Centre for Energy Economics and Regulation (RCEER) in collaboration with the PURC, Energy Foundation (EF), Energy Commission (EC), the Ministry of Energy, the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER), the Kumasi Institute of Technology and Environment (KITE) and the Centre for Energy Economics (CEE), University of Texas at Austin, USA, is aimed at exposing the potentials that abound in the usage of natural gas for industrial, commercial, transportation and domestic purposes.

According to Mr. Pianim who is also the Chairman of RCEER, power generation is an essential component in the developmental process; hence, without power to run industries, there cannot be any meaningful development.

He said currently the nation is unable to march the demand for power as it is only able to generate power at a rate of 6% against the growing consumption rate of 12%, hence the need for cheaper resource to generate electricity has become even more pressing. Thankfully, natural gas, a cheaper resource for generating electricity as compared to crude oil, would soon be here in Ghana.

Sounding rather prophetic, Mr. Pianim pointed out that Ghana is on the verge of a break through. The drive towards middle income status is nearer than we think and all that we need to do is to take advantage of the prevailing conditions to reach there. Having a cheaper way of producing electricity for industry therefore, is an added impetus.

The WAGP, which was initially expected to be completed by December this year, is now expected to be finished in March 2007. On completion Ghana would benefit from natural gas, piped from southern Nigeria through Benin and Togo to be used mostly in the generation of electricity and the running of industry.

Initially, this resource would not be available to households for the purposes of cooking and other domestic use, rather it will be available to industrial firms within Tema and Takoradi with the bulk of it going to the Volta River Authority (VRA).

Explaining the rational behind the idea, Mr. Alfred Ofosu Ahenkora, the Executive Secretary of EF and member of RCEER said unlike the western world where natural gas is used for domestic purposes other than cooking and heating water, the process of laying pipes in Ghana would cost households more than if they were to buy Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) in Ghana.