The Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) has reviewed upward utility tariffs for some customers while others will see no adjustments to their bills.
Under its Quarterly Tariff Review Mechanism and Guidelines, the Commission decided on tariff payments for customers from Friday, September 1 to the end of this year.
It approved a 4.22 percent increase for electricity across board for non-lifeline residential customers.
However, there will not be any increment for lifeline customers, industrial customers, and non-residential customers like hairdressing saloons, barbering shops, chop bars, tailoring and dress-making shops, cold stores, and other small- and medium-scale businesses.
For water, a 1.18 percent increment was approved for all customers except lifeline customers, who will see no increment in tariffs.
According to the PURC, it was guided “by the ultimate interest of consumers, the financial viability of the utilities, and the general economic conditions prevailing in the country”.
It said three main reasons guided the adjustments.
Firstly, inflation, the exchange rate and the electricity generation mix particularly the weighted average cost of natural gas influenced the decision to get customers to pay the real cost of supply of utility services.
Secondly, concerns of the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) were taken into consideration so that cross subsidisation between industrial customers and residential customers is reduced. Thus, the adjustments, which favour industry, “will support the growth and competitiveness of industry, and as part of a significant contribution towards Ghana’s industrialization drive, and enhance opportunities for job creation”.
Thirdly, according to the PURC, the decision is to “ensure that the utilities are financially viable to sustain supply of services, while reducing the burden on consumers, especially lifeline customers”.