Pressure group the Alliance for Accountable Governance (AFAG) has hailed the recent reduction in utility tariffs describing it as good news for both industries and consumers. AFAG has been instrumental in the cry against high utility tariffs.
On Tuesday, February 15, the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission announced new tariffs for electricity and water influenced by a reduction in cost of production.
The new tariffs take effect from March 1 to May 31 consistent with the PURC’s new initiative to review the tariffs quarterly. Non residential consumers of electricity for instance depending on units of consumption will enjoy up to 15.9% decrease in tariffs. PURC explained that the increased use of gas in the generation of hydropower in production is a contributory factor. The General Secretary for AFAG, Sammy Awuku, speaking on on Xfm welcomed the reduction, saying in as much as it is meager, it is significant.
“With this decrease, industries could save money and make other investments. We believe that this is good news and we hope that it continues appropriately with the indicators put in place.”
“It is significant; if I am spending GHC1000 on utility, in a period of six months, the reduction would save me enough money. We feel that though it is meager, in the long term it would save industries. This is what we have been advocating for a long time. We believe that industries should be supported not only with utility tariff reductions, but also other supports in terms of consistent energy supplies, etc.”
However, the group would want the utility adjusted monthly instead of quarterly. This AFAG believes, would make an increment, should need be, meager. “If there should be an increment, it would be accumulated. But if it is monthly, then we can know that industries can adjust themselves to absorb them. So we believe that though it is good, the timeline should be shortened so that we would be in a position to absorb it without any significant change”.