Energy Minister, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh says the Electricity Company of Ghana, ECG’s inability to account for 31 percent of the power it receives is a matter of concern and it would become necessary at some point to introduce reforms, alongside renegotiating Public Utilities Regulatory Commission’s utility tariffs.
ECG has for years been grappling with electricity distribution losses as a result of illegal connections, system losses, and inability to collect bills from some customers.
The Company managed to improve the situation with the introduction of prepaid and smart meters.
However, the Energy Minister believes a lot more needs to be done to reduce or eliminate the unaccounted for power it distributes to customers.
Dr. Opoku-Prempeh was speaking in a virtual appraisal meeting with the World Bank on matters pertaining to the energy sector.
He observed that gas prices in the country affect uptake by players in the industry as they are too high and need to be addressed if the country is to make progress in its industrialisation agenda.
Dr. Opoku-Prempeh was pleased with the positive outlook of the meeting and expects that the World Bank will continue to play a significant role as a development partner in Ghana’s energy sector.
The World Bank team was led by Mr David Vilar, Country Representative for Ghana. The discussions centred on activities of the Ghana Energy Sector Transformation Initiative Project support for the Ministry of Energy as well as challenges pertaining specifically to the gas and power sectors.
