The Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) has criticized the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) for providing inaccurate explanations for the recent power outages experienced by consumers. ECG had attributed the outages to overloaded transformers and GRIDCo’s sudden demand to cut supply without providing a load management schedule.
However, the PURC’s analysis of the data submitted by ECG revealed that out of 715 transformer details, only 31 were loaded less than 70%, while 595 were loaded between 70-100% and 89 were overloaded by more than 100%. The majority of the outages between 7 pm and 11 pm were due to load management operations by GRIDCo and faults unrelated to overloaded transformers.
The PURC found that ECG’s claims about the outages being caused by overloaded transformers were not factually accurate. The commission is currently investigating the true causes of these outages.
In a related development, ECG board members who served between January and March 2024 will have to pay a regulatory charge of approximately GHȼ5.9 million for overseeing power outages without notifying consumers. The board members, including ECG MD Samuel Mahama Dubik and former chair Keli Gadzekpo, will be affected by these fines. However, the current Deputy Energy Minister, Herbert Krapah, who chaired the board during this period, will not be impacted as his tenure falls outside the regulatory orders.
This comes as a wake-up call for ECG to address the real issues causing power outages and to ensure better communication with consumers regarding supply interruptions. By holding accountable those responsible for overseeing these outages, the PURC aims to promote transparency and accountability within the energy sector.
