We’re not shedding load - ECG

The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) has allayed fears of the public that it is rolling out a load shedding exercise.

Intermittent power cuts in various parts of the capital have caused agitation, with several consumers venting their frustrations at the power distribution company and accusing it of introducing by stealth the long hours of power outage (dumsor), which was a common occurrence when the country endured a four-year power crisis.

But the PRO of the ECG, William Boateng, has said that was not the case. In an interview with Prince Minkah on Class FM’s Executive Breakfast Show, he emphasised: “What we have been experiencing for some time now is not load-shedding.”

According to him, the recent blackout in some parts of the capital was caused by a “power trip at the intake point from Ghana Grid Company Limited (GRIDCO)”, adding: “It was a fault so power from GRIDCO was not coming in for us to distribute. As engineers work on it, we will look at areas that will not have power and give an announcement.”

He indicated that a series of accidents and some planned maintenance had resulted in the recent power outages “but it is not load shedding”, assuring: “If it load-shedding, we will let you know.”

Mr Boateng underscored that accidents had occurred on some occasions, an example being the power cut in some suburbs of Accra in the evening of Tuesday October 25, saying ECG could not predict “that it will go off” as “it was an accident and we could not inform our customers on time”.

Further, he said there had been distribution disturbances due to heavy downpour.

“You know, we thought that the rains had subsided but not yet,” he pointed out.

He assured customers that engineers of the company were working around the clock to complete their planned maintenance before the end of November, 2016.

“We are on the grounds and doing maintenance on our lines – tree pruning to prevent branches going into our system when it rains and all that,” Mr Boateng said.