The Public
Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) has increased tariffs for electricity
and natural gas by 18.36% across the board for all consumer groups.
The decision was
taken after a review for the second quarter of 2023.
PURC in a
statement explained that the decision was taken to balance the prevention of
extended power outages and their adverse implications on jobs and livelihoods
while minimizing the impact of rate increases on consumers.
The Quarterly
Tariff Review Mechanism seeks to track and incorporate changes in key factors
used in determining natural gas and electricity tariffs.
Justification
The PURC blamed
the Ghana Cedis/US Dollar exchange rate, inflation, electricity generation mix,
and the weighted average cost of natural gas (WACOG) as the factors that
influenced the latest increment.
“This review has
become necessary to maintain the real value of the cost of supply of the
utility services and to ensure that the utility companies do not under or
over-recover costs.
“While
under-recovery has negative implications for the ability of the companies to
supply service to consumers, and has the potential of causing outages of
electricity, over-recovery unnecessarily overburdens consumers of electricity.
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