No light bill increment till June

Electricity tariffs shall remain unchanged until the end of the second quarter of this year, the Public Utilities and Regulatory Commission (PURC) has announced.

A statement by PURC, signed by Mami Dufie Ofori, Executive Secretary, said the commission’s decision on tariff changes would be announced by July 1, this year.

According to the commission, it took the decision due to critical emerging issues in the sector which are expected to affect the final tariff setting.

It said the emerging issues are related to the planned relocation of the Karpowership Plant, resulting in savings from switch from Heavy field oil (HF) to natural gas.

Additionally, it explained that reduction in the price of natural gas was anticipated due to ongoing negotiations by government.

It said:“These matters are outside the purview of PURC, but their outcomes are likely to have meaurable impact on the commission’s decision. In the interim, the commission will also closely monitor the operations of Power Distribution Services (PDS) Ghana Limited, which has taken over the assets of Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG).

“This is to establish PDS’ actual operational cost and any other efficiency gains in the running of the distribution network by PDS.”

The PURC was expected to announce new tariffs on February 1, this year.

While some people hinted of a reduction in the cost of electricity, others argued that the cost of electricity would increase in view of the takeover of ECG by a new partner.