PUBLIC AGENDA

"Electricity tariffs...VRA's new deal", is the banner headline in the Public Agenda. The paper says in a move to help its major clients make up for anticipated shortfalls in electicity supply, the VRA has proposed a plan that will enable it to import power on behalf of its clients and supply it direct to them at prices to be determined not by the Public Utilitties Regulatory Commission. The Public Agenda says but the companies have expressed fears of uncontrolled increases in the charges they currently pay for electricity and the infringements on the powers of the utilities commission if they should accept the deal. The paper says, to sell this plan to its clients, the Authority last Thursday, invited representatives of a number of companies that consume large quantities of electricity , mostly mining concerns, including the Ashanti Goldfields Company (AGC) to its headquarters. According to the paper, the VRA rold the representatives that it planned to import power from Cote d'Ivoire and supply it at cost to companies prepared to pay to offset the shortfall that will occur when theAuthoority implements its plan to reduce the amount of electricity currently being generated by 20 per cent. GRI