Accra, Nov. 30, GNA – The Public Utility and Regulatory Commission (PURC) has announced a three per cent increase in electricity tariffs across board for the last quarter of the year and this takes effect from Thursday, December 1.

Similarly, water tariffs would go up by 1.07 per cent across all consumer categories.

The rates for consumers in the lifeline bracket of between 0-50 are unchanged while consumers between 51-150 category would now pay 17.5 pesewas per kilowatts hour.

A statement signed on behalf of Dr Emmanuel Andah, Commissioner of PURC, said in taking the decision the PURC took into account the growth in energy consumption for the period, which averaged at 7.5 per cent.

This means that additional generation beyond the maximum generation capacity of both the Akosombo and Kpong Hydro Power Plants would have to be supplied from thermal sources using light crude oil and natural gas.

“The amount of natural gas available for generating electricity through thermal sources has become not only insufficient but also highly erratic in supply leading to the dependency on light crude oil for thermal generation,” the statement said.

Besides, there was an increasing trend in the world market price of crude oil and changes in the Ghana Cedi-US Dollar Exchange Rate.

The statement reminded the Electricity Company of Ghana, Northern Electricity Company and Ghana Water Company Limited not to bill consumers for electricity and water consumed in November 2011.

The statement said the PURC has intensified its monitoring activities in all the operational areas of both the electric and the Ghana Water Company to ensure that new projects which were currently under execution were completed in time to bring about the expected improvement in service delivery.