{"id":596033,"date":"2019-03-03T09:17:00","date_gmt":"2019-03-03T09:17:00","guid":{"rendered":"
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The decision by the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) to maintain tariffs this year has been met with opposition by some members of Parliament\u2019s Mines and Energy Committee.<\/span><\/p>\n

Edward Bawa said <\/span>government<\/span> should be sincere with Ghanaians and concede that the cedis\u2019 depreciation and <\/span>other production costs make\u00a0maintaining the tariff\u00a0detrimental to the sustainability of the energy companies.<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cWe need to save our utility services by giving them a cost reflective tariff. PURC\u2019s <\/span>tariffs<\/span>\u00a0review from March to <\/span>June<\/span> will cost the utility services not less than \u00a2700 million which will collapse them and we will be going back to \u2018<\/span>dumsor<\/span><\/span>\u2019,\u201d he said. <\/span><\/p>\n

His comments follow the Commission\u2019s statement Wednesday, signed by Executive Secretary Maame Dufie Ofori, announcing that tariffs will remain the same until the end of the second quarter of 2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

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The statement said\u00a0<\/span>PURC\u2019s<\/span><\/span> decision on tariffs changes will be announced in due course, specifically July 1, 2019. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe Commission\u2019s decision is due to critical emerging issues in the sector which are expected to affect the final tariff setting. Amongst others, the emerging issues are related to the planned relocation of the Karpowership Plant resulting in fuel switch savings, from Heavy Fuel Oil (HFO) to Natural Gas.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The statement added, \u201cSecondly, reductions in the price of natural gas are anticipated due to ongoing negotiations by the government. These matters are outside the purview of PURC but their outcomes are likely to have a measurable impact on the Commission\u2019s decision,\u201d the statement said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Related:\u00a0PURC stays electricity tariffs until June 30<\/p>\n

But a member of Parliament\u2019s Mines and Energy Committee is unhappy with the Commission\u2019s decision. <\/span><\/p>\n

The Bongo MP said considering the country\u2019s economy with the depreciating cedi and other factors which affect <\/span>tariffs<\/span><\/span>, the decision is not a prudent one.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Giving an example, <\/span>Mr.<\/span><\/span> Bawa said the Ghana Grid Company Limited (GRIDCO) moved its tariff\u00a0in 2018 from \u00a25.0400 to \u00a24.283 kilowatts per hour which affected the company. <\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cBecause of this particular reduction of about 17 per cent, as we speak today, if you compare their losses in 2016 and 2017, you have a situation where in 2016,\u00a0they were making a profit of about \u00a259.13 million. <\/span><\/p>\n

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However, the\u00a0former PRO of the Energy Ministry said,\u00a0\u201cIn 2017, they made a loss of \u00a231.10 million and in 2018, they also made a loss of \u00a2118 .28 million,\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

According to him, exchange rate losses as a result of the cedi, GRIDCO made a loss of \u00a2148 million. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n