PURC to offer cheaper electricity to industries

The Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) is expected to implement a different utility tariff regime soon after accepting in principle a proposal by Parliament’s Energy and Mines Committee.

The proposal if implemented will see industries offered power at a cheaper rate than to households.

Chairman of Parliament’s Select Committee on Energy and Mines Dr Kwabena Donkor said a presentation was made to PURC over the new pricing formula.

“They have accepted the presentation in principle,” Dr Donkor said on TV3 on Wednesday, October 15. “What they now have to do is to come out with an implementation plan.”

The Commission uses the Automatic Adjustment Formula, which sees utility tariffs reviewed every quarter by variables which include the performance of the local currency on the international market.

The latest review released on October 1 saw an upward adjustment in water and electricity tariffs by 4.54 and 6.54 per cent respectively.

Some stakeholders notably the Ghana Trades Union Congress (TUC) have rejected the pricing formula, referring to it as “insensitive” to the plight of Ghanaians.

But Dr Donkor in explicating Parliament’s proposal observed that the new formula will sell power cheaper to industries than to households.