Utility service providers yesterday presented this year's tariff proposals to the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) for consideration and approval, in Accra.
The service providers are two major electricity service providers; the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) and the Northern Electricity Distribution Company (NEDCo), and the Ghana Water Company (GWCL).
According to the companies, the proposalsthat is between about 37 per cent and 334 per cent,was to enable themrecoup their investment, expand and complete projects as well as provide quality services to customers.
The utilities service providers noted that the proposed increment in tariff was due to the increase in operational cost, exchange rate, cedi depreciation and inflation.
The proposals were presented at a stakeholder consultative meeting for the Multi-Year Major Tariff Review (2022-2027) with policy think tanks, academia, civil society organisations (CSOs), and the media, organised by the PURC.
The GWC L leads inthe tariff proposal with 334 per centincrease for 2022, then ECG and NEDCo with tariff proposal of 148 percent and 113 percent respectively.
The GRIDCo projected 48 percentrise for the year while the Volta River Authority (VRA)proposed 37 percent increment.
Dr Eric Obutey,Acting Director, Research and Corporate Affairs, PURC,in an interview with the Ghanaian Times, stated that the meeting formed part of consultative meetings the PURCwerehaving before a decision was maderegarding any increase in tariff of utilities next July.
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He urged Ghanaiansand customers to be patient as the process of tariff increase had just began, saying that the meetings were just on proposals which have been presented awaiting approval.
Dr Obutey said that the PURC would analyse factors, including targets set by the Commission for system and commercial losses as well as benchmarks before the decision was made.
He said "all these in addition to the consultative meetings would help inform the final outcome."
The Acting Director of Research and Corporate Affairs of the PURC,asked the general populace not be agitated but remain calm.
Nana Yaa Jantuah,a former Director of Public Relations and External Affairs of the PURC,told the Ghanaian Times that the utilities service providers were considering the forex loss, eight percent rate of return, reduction in tariff, in 2019, and their returns from the government.
He asked PURC to critically evaluate the proposals to determine whether consumers would be able to pay new tariffs, and also ensure that increment they were requesting corresponded with the quality of service provided for consumers.
