PURC urges ECG to address outages, metering delays

The Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) has called on the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) to resolve recurring power disruptions and metering delays in the Greater Accra Region. During a meeting with ECG officials, PURC's regional manager, Gifty Bruce-Nelson, highlighted that the issues were among the primary concerns raised during their mid-year monitoring and consumer interactions.

She emphasized that Greater Accra experienced the highest number of electricity service quality complaints, primarily due to persistent outages, phase-offs, power fluctuations, and low voltages. The Commission's electronic complaint channels, such as their WhatsApp platforms, and field monitoring had documented instances of overloaded transformers, meter shortages, theft, network connectivity gaps, and impersonation of ECG staff.

PURC urged ECG to prioritize transformer upgrades, enhance network infrastructure, improve communication with consumers on fault restoration, and streamline the metering process to minimize estimated billing, illegal connections, and disputes. Additionally, PURC stressed the importance of better meter acquisition, installation, and replacement, as delays in this area contributed to billing issues.

Some ECG district managers noted that substandard meters had been installed without proper registration in the ECG system, leading to customer resistance in paying bills. Community outreach programs were organized to educate consumers on the importance of timely payments and ensuring accurate meter registration. ECG district managers also pointed out the transition to a new billing system as a contributing factor to some billing challenges.

The meeting aimed to bolster collaboration between PURC and ECG to enhance electricity service delivery and customer relations in the region.