PURC, Power Ministry clash over power tariffs

The Power Ministry and the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) have clashed over who should determine power tariffs to sustain Karpower barge.

Power Minister Dr. Kwabena Donkor asked consumers to brace themselves for realistic tariffs, but Communications Director of the PURC, Nana Yaa Jantuah told the media in Accra that her outfit has the mandate to decide on realistic tariff and not the ministry.

“It is not the position of Dr. Kwabena Donkor and his ministry to decide whether we should brace ourselves for realistic tariff or not and so I find it hard to understand why he (Kwabena Donkor) should be emphatic about the tariff adjustment,” she stated.

Dr Kwabena Donkor, at a stakeholders’ meeting on local content for the power sector in Takoradi on Thursday, urged consumers of electricity to brace themselves for realistic tariffs because cheap power from hydro would no longer be available.

He said the only way to sustain power generation was to produce power above the cost of generation in order to break even.

Dr Donkor observed that it would be difficult to sustain energy generation, transmission and distribution if power was produced and sold at lower prices.

“To generate power, the country buys light crude and gas at the international market price and pays in dollars, yet billing is done in cedis,” he said.

John Jinapor, Deputy Power Minister, also indicated that “everything, not just the fuel, the cost of generation, the cost of fuel will be borne by the end user and so all of us have to brace ourselves and ensure that we pay the right tariffs and when we talk about right tariffs we are not talking of milking people, we are not talking about exorbitant price but at least what is fair and what the PURC gives ought to be passed through,” the Minister explained.

But Nana Yaa Jantuah said PURC is an independent organization and therefore does not determine tariffs with government.

Nana Yaa Jantuah, who claims to have no idea about what constitute realistic tariffs, indicated that leaders of the commission were holding a crisis meeting to determine the right tariff for consumers.

“We have not met with Kwabena Donkor and so we don’t know where the information comes from. We are independent and so we don’t work with government. We will communicate with the public when we are ready,” she insisted.

Some Ghanaians have kicked against government’s plans to let consumers fuel the barge.

The two barges, the second of which is expected early next year, is part of the medium-term measures adopted by government to mitigate the effects of the power crisis.