The Electricity of Company of Ghana (ECG) says it will be seeking other sources of funding, following the inability of the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) to grant its full tariff proposal.

The utility company had asked the regulator to raise its tariff, which has not changed in two years, by more than 200 percent -- but was only granted a 78.9 percent increase effective this month.

Addressing the press in Accra, ECG’s Divisional Manager of Regulatory and Governmental Affairs, Daniel Azu, said the new tariff of 14.72 pesewas/kW will lead the company to incur a loss of 15.95 pesewas/kWh for every unit of electricity sold.

With the PURC not likely to review the tariff again before the next quarter, when it is expected to reintroduce the automatic tariff adjustment mechanism, ECG will be losing close to GH¢33million in the rest of the year.

However, Mr. Azu maintained that the ECG will explore other funding opportunities to make up for the loss. “The company will make use of what has been offered it by the regulator to strengthen its finances within the shortest possible time, and then seek the support of financial institutions as well as its suppliers and manufacturers across the world to strive to execute its mandate of providing quality, safe and reliable electricity services to its cherished customers.”

Last month, an energy economist with the ECG, Ebenezer Baiden, said the utility may be forced to shelve some projects if it does not raise enough funds from tariffs.

According to him, “Some projects planned for the immediate future will have to be deferred or put on hold until funds are secured from government or the donor community. Sub-station expansion, interconnecting lines, high and medium voltage lines are some of the projects likely to be affected”. Quality of Service

ECG said it is implementing a number of strategies that will ensure a significant improvement in electricity distribution services.

One of such projects, Mr. Azu mentioned, will see customers who apply for new service and do not require a pole connected within 24-hours after making full payment.

“This project was piloted in the Achimota district and is fully operational in Accra. The target is to roll it out to all our 79 district offices by the end of this year,” he added.

The company also said it is upgrading and installing Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems on its high and medium voltage networks in order to minimise the frequency and duration of power outages.

Personnel of the company are also being trained to perform maintenance and expansion works on energised and live equipment at a cost of US$20million. “The project requires the purchase of sophisticated tools and safety equipment to ensure that field employees perform maintenance and repair works without switching the entire system off,” Mr. Azu said.

The company added that it is exploring the possibility of introducing 24-hour vending systems for the purchase and sale of units as a way of improving availability and accessibility of its services.

Despite reducing total system losses from 27% in December 2011 to 22% in June 2013, the company said it needs the cooperation of the public to bring the issue of illegal connection, which it described as a “grave concern”, under control.