No tariff adjustment for the last quarter - PURC

Accra, Nov 14, GNA - The Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) on Monday said it would not adjust tariffs of utilities for the last quarter of 2005.

It said it had decided to shelve a planned tariff adjustment for the last quarter November 2005 to January 2006, pending the outcome of an ongoing major review.

Citing uncertainties relating to generation mix, crude oil prices and the changed macroeconomic environment as reasons for the decision, the PURC said new tariffs would be announced in the first quarter of 2006.

A statement signed by Mr Kwame Pianim, Chairman of PURC, said, there were marginal increases in the factors that drove marginal adjustments in tariffs during the review period of bulk supply tariff of 5.9 per cent and an end user tariff of 3.4 per cent for electricity. The statement said PURC decided that the Volta River Authority for whom the marginal adjustment could have been considered could use part of the over-recovery gained in the past year from the favourable generation mix to accommodate what they would have gained from the 5.9 per cent increase that the formula yielded.

The statement said the major tariff review of the PURC would be completed for implementation in the first quarter of 2006. New and more realistic cost structures of the utility industries would emerge and help the Commission to arrive at a more realistic cost recovery framework for determining future tariffs for the utilities, the statement said.