VRA introduces new billing scheme for its customers

The Northern Electricity Department (NED) of the Volta River Authority (VRA) has introduced new devices known as load limiters, that would enable power consumed by lifeline customers to be determined more accurately and billed on flat rate basis.

Dr Charles Wereko-brobbey, Chief Executive of VRA, said the idea behind the scheme was to ensure that as consumers move from lifeline class to greater usage of power, the rating of the load limiters would be progressively increased and the flat rate tariffs adjusted.

He said this after a VRA Board of Directors meeting at Wa. The region formed part of VRA's vision to take its business to parts of the country where the authority has customers and its staff.

Dr Wereko-Brobbey said consumers whose bill exceeded the lifeline consumption would be switched to pre-paid meters over the next two to three years.

He said NED had drawn a programme to extend electricity to more communities in the Upper West Region over the next three years.

This had been necessitated by the improvement in the quality of power supply to the region following the completion of a sub-station at Sawla in the Bole District of the Northern Region.

The VRA Chief Executive said the authority was determined to offer the same level of quality and reliable services to all its customers throughout the country and called on customers to reciprocate by paying for the power they consume.

Dr Wereko-Brobbey said the authority would construct a transmission line between Tumu and Han to complete the power transmission loot for the northern half of the country.

This additional line would enable the people of the northern part of the country to enjoy a higher level of reliability of power.

The provision of electricity to rural communities, he said, had been identified as a priority under the Power Reduction Strategy Programme (PRSP) which seeks to utilise proceeds from the HIPC initiative to offer basic services to poor and deprived communities.

VRA would take advantage of funds from HIPC to increase the access to electricity to many more communities in the rural areas of the four regions, which fall under NED through the Self-Help Electrification Programme, he added.

The regions are Brong-Ahafo, Northern, Upper East and Upper West Regions.