The Public Utilities Regulatory Commission, PURC, has commenced stakeholder consultation on the proposed downward review of utility tariffs by the government.
The 2018 Major Tariff Review commenced by way of soliciting inputs from all stakeholders. The Commission has already received proposals from the Utility Companies: Volta River Authority (VRA); Ghana Grid Company Limited (GRIDCo); Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG); Northern Electricity Distribution Company (NEDCo); Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL); Enclave Power Company (EPC), Ghana Chamber of Telecommunication including the Government of Ghana. Analysis of the received proposals is ongoing. A statement from the PURC said.
A statement from the PURC called on the general public to submit their inputs in respect of the Major Tariff Review on or before the deadline of 31st January 2018.
However, electricity tariffs for domestic consumers per the 2018 budget are expected to go down by as much as 13 percent if proposals by the government to the PURC is accepted and implemented.
The move according to Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta is in line with a promise by the President that the NPP government would ensure that electricity tariffs are reduced.
Presenting the 2018 budget to parliament, Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta said to give relief to the poor whose individual consumption actually falls in the subsidised life-line category but who live in a compound house, the existing 4-tier tariff classification of residential consumers will be collapsed into Lifeline and Non-Lifeline consumers in phases.
On the basis of these interventions, he added, if government recommendations to PURC, are accepted, consumers will be expected to benefit from reductions in electricity tariffs. The expected average tariff reductions across various customer categories will be as follows:
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primenewsghana.com/Ghana News