The Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) has set the revenue requirement for the second quarter at GH¢6.81 billion.
This projection represents an increase of GH¢1.14 billion over the first quarter’s revenue requirement for 2024, which was projected at a total revenue requirement of GH¢5.67 billion.
The PURC also announced an increase in the cost of electricity and water tariffs starting from July 1 to September 30, 2024.
The Commission has announced a 3.45% increase in electricity tariffs for lifeline consumers (0-30kWh) and a 5.84% increase for all other residential consumers outside the lifeline category.
In a statement signed by its Executive Secretary, Dr. Ishmael Ackah, dated Friday, May 31, the Commission stated that it plans to recover GH¢5.90 billion of the GH¢6.81 billion required for the second quarter.
The statement read, “The total revenue requirement for the Electricity Supply Industry (ESI) for the first quarter of 2024 amounted to GH¢5.67 billion. In the second quarter, the revenue requirement is projected to be GH¢6.81 billion. This will result in an increase of GH¢1.14 billion over the first quarter revenue requirement. The Commission, however, decided to recover GH¢5.90 billion of the GH¢6.81 billion required for the second quarter.”
“This decision was taken by the Commission, taking into consideration the revenue collection performance of the sector, since continuous increases in tariffs have not yielded the corresponding increase in revenue collection by the utilities to cover sector expenditure. In addition, the Commission considered the negative effect of passing on the entire revenue required in one tranche to customers. Thus, the difference of GH¢906.21 million will be recovered in subsequent quarters,” it added.
EAN/SA
Source: www.ghanaweb.com