Govt asked to take second look at residential tariffs

Accra, May 17, GNA - Mr. Andrew Quayson, a Commissioner of the Public Utility Regulatory Commission, has reiterated the need for government to take a second look at the payment of uneconomic tariffs by residential users.

He said the reluctance of government to allow residential customers' pay full for electricity that they used did not augur well for key investments by companies in generating capacity and this could gradually lead to a halt in their operations.

"There is the need to discuss the issues thoroughly to see if it was necessary that residential users, who constituted about 80 per cent of the market continue to pay less for the power they consumed," he told the Ghana News Agency at a Luncheon hosted by the Association of Ghana Industries for its Past Presidents and national Executives. The forum was to enable the past executives to share experiences with the current officers in advancing the cause of industry. Mr. Quayson blamed the current energy crisis on poor investment in the sector over the years and added that structure of the sector was also not attractive enough to encourage investors to put money into it. He urged residential users to work out on the conservation of energy.

Mr. Tony Oteng-Gyasi, President of the Association, said industry would continue to make its voice heard about the energy crisis until a solution was found to spur the development of the economy. He assured the past presidents and executives that the association was alive and continually getting recognition from stakeholders as far as issues on industry and the economy are concerned.

Mr Oteng-Gyasi said the AGI was working on a comprehensive policy on the Domestic Content Bill that would advance the cause of local companies which source their raw materials locally.

Mrs Elizabeth Joyce Villars, a Past President of the Association asked small and medium scale enterprises to build synergies and linkages to be able to compete effectively.