The Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) has concluded its regulatory process for the examination and approval of utility tariffs from the period 2022 and 2025.
The tariff review process commenced with the receipt of proposals from the following Utility Service Providers: Volta River Authority (VRA), Ghana National Gas Company (GNGC), Ghana Grid Company Limited (GRIDCo), Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), Northern Electricity Distibution Company (NEDCo), Enclave Power Company (EPC) and Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL).
The Commission also received proposals from Ghana National Petroleum Corporation(GNPC) in respect of projected natural gas volumes and tariffs by gas supply sources.
As has been the practice, the PURC undertook extensive stakeholder consultations which afforded the utility services providers the opportunity to explain their proposals to the general public and key interest groups such as the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) and the Trades Union Congress (TUC).
The tariff decisions for the period 2022-2025 have been informed by rigorous analyses, intense debates, and extensive consultations.
The last major review of tariffs was done in 2018 which resulted in a 17 5 % reduction for residential and 30% for non-residential electricity tariffs.
Since then, key macroeconomic variables have deteriorated particularly since 2020. These have adverse implications on the ability of utilities to keep the lights on and water flowing.
The companies requested for very astronomical increases with GWCL demanding over 300 per sent increment in end -user tariffs.
ECG and NEDCo proposed 148 % and 113% increases respectively. VRA and GRIDCo proposes 37 % and 48 % increment respectively.
After receiving these proposals, the Commission carried out a rigorous regulatory audit of the processes and assets of Utility Service Providers, enabling it to adjust the weighted Averages Cost of Gas (WACOG) for power generation and end-user tariffs for electricity and water.
