Tarrifs to go up

Page 19, May 28, 2010
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah & Collette Brown

ELECTRICITY tariffs are expected to go up by a minimal margin following the passage of the Public Utilities Regulatory (Amendment) Bill, 2010 by Parliament to ensure that a levy is imposed on electricity and natural gas transmission.
The bill, which is to replace the Public Utilities Regulatory Act, 1997 (Act 538), is aimed at generating additional funds for the operations of the PURC and the Energy Commission.
According to the report of the Joint Committee of Mines and Energy, and Works and Housing of Parliament, the impact of the levy on consumers will be minimal, since consumers who consume between 0 and 50kWh per month (Lifeline consumers) would pay only 0.05 pesewas.
On the other hand, average households that consume about 200kWh per month or GH¢ 30.00 per month would pay 0.25 pesewas.
A Minister of State at the Presidency, Mr Kwadjo Likpalomor Tawiah, who moved the motion for the passage of the bill, told the House that both the PURC and the Energy Commission faced operational challenges as a result of inadequate funding to purchase the requisite equipment to monitor standards set for the utilities by the regulator.
In addition, the two institutions have high staff attrition as a result of poor remuneration, thus necessitating the passage of the bill to provide a more reliable source of funding for monitoring and enforcement of standards among the utility companies.
The Chairman of the Works and Housing Committee of Parliament, Mr David Assumeng Tetteh, who seconded the motion, observed that part of the mandate of the PURC was to receive complaints from the general public and ensure that those concerns were addressed by the commission or the utility companies.
Unfortunately, the PURC currently has offices in only four out of the 10 regions due to financial constraints and in order that it met its mandate it was important that it established its presence in all the regional and district capitals.
Contributing to the motion, the NDC Member of Parliament for Asawase, Alhaji Muntaka M. Mubarak, called on the PURC to ensure that meters were provided to families residing in compound houses, since the use of single meters in such houses did not allow poor families to enjoy subsidies meant for lifeline consumers.
For his part, the NPP MP for Old Tafo, Dr Anthony Akoto Osei, expressed his delight that the PURC and the Energy Commission were being provided with reliable funding to enable them to perform their functions as expected of them.
He compared the PURC to its counterparts in other countries and wondered why such an important institution had been left “to become a beggar”.
The bill received overwhelming support from both sides of the House after a lengthy debate.