Utility tariff increases take effect today

Consumers of electricity and water across the country will be paying more for utilities beginning today, July 1, 2019, following the upward tariff adjustment announced by the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) last month.

The Utility Services Regulator approved an 11.17 percent tariff increment for electricity and 8.01 percent increment in water.

The PURC approved the increases following proposals from the Volta River Authority (VRA), the Ghana Grid Company Limited (GRIDCo), the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), Power Distribution Services (PDS) Ghana Limited, the Northern Distribution Company (NEDCo) and Enclave Power Company Limited (EPC).

The increases came alongside the elimination of the Maximum Demand Charge on industrial customers.

This was in line with a major policy shift aimed at enhancing the competitiveness of Ghanaian industries.

In the case of the 11.17 percent increase in electricity, PURC said the key objective was to sustain the financial viability of utility service providers as well as ensuring the delivery of quality services to consumers.

For water, the dollar to cedi rate, projected inflation rate and increasing electricity and water demands, electricity cost and cost of the chemicals for water treatment were cited as reasons for the increase.

Despite these increases, the Public Utilities Workers Union (PUWU) asked the PURC to be bold to approve higher tariffs that would help sustain companies within the country’s power distribution chain.