Cabinet approves establishment of Electricity Market Oversight Panel

Ghana’s electricity sub-sector will soon have an oversight body regulating its activities, as envisaged in a Legislative Instrument passed by Parliament in 2008.

Officials of the Energy Ministry say the Electricity Market Oversight Panel (EMOP) would among others, seek to monitor the general performance of electricity transmission, ensure smooth and efficient operation of the wholesale electricity market, monitor pre-dispatch schedules and ensure long-term optimisation of hydro-electricity supply sources in the country.

As part of efforts to improve the governance and operations of the electricity sector, Parliament passed the Electricity Regulations, 2008, L.I. 1937 which provided for the implementation of a Wholesale Electricity Market to facilitate wholesale electricity trading and to allow for private sector investment and competition in the procurement of electricity in Ghana.

The L.I. 1937 also provided for a number of key policy decisions, including the structure of the wholesale electricity market, as well as the market rules intended to govern the market. However, there was a need for an oversight panel to ensure its effective implementation.

At a Cabinet meeting on Thursday July 21, 2017, the Minister of Energy was tasked to constitute the Panel and see to its inauguration, to enable the restructuring of the electricity sub-sector and energy sector as a whole.