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Business & Finance

PURC begins stakeholder engagements over possible increase in electricity and water tariffs from July

By : cd on 26 May 2021, 11:04     |     Source: myjoyonline

PURC

The Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) has begun engagement with stakeholders to solicit their inputs into a possible upward adjustments in both electricity and water tariffs, marginally.

This is because of the rising operational costs of the utility companies.

Joy Business is learning that the increase in the End User Tariffs will take effect from the beginning of July.

However, due to the effect of covid-19 pandemic on household and business consumers, the increment will be marginal, not more than 8 percent. This will be lower than the prevailing inflation rate.

It is expected that businesses will pay slightly lower tariffs than individual consumers, in order to encourage more production to stimulate economic growth, post covid-19 recovery.

Joy Business also understands there will be a level playing field as the more one consume electricity or water, the more the individual or business pay for the consumption.

ACEP predicts increase in significant adjustment of electricity tariff

Executive Director of the Africa Centre for Energy Policy, Ben Boakye, earlier said Ghanaians will have to brace themselves up to pay for more for electricity consumption, as electricity tariff is expected to go up soon.

“There is no debate about that. This is a major tariff review year, so PURC I can imagine the difficult situation they may be in, where the grid is not stable and yet you have to review the tariff”, Ben Boakye, Executive Director of ACEP told Evans Mensah, host of PM Express on Joy News.
“It’s going to be a very tough decision for PURC to take. I can guarantee that tariff would go up significantly. If it doesn’t go up then government has to raise money, but I didn’t see it in the budget”, he further said.

Mr. Boakye bemoaned the lack of investments in the sector over the years, which he attributed to the recent power outages.