The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) has warned of persistent power outages during peak hours of the day between 7 pm and 10 pm, as a result of their transformers operating at full capacity.
In a statement released by the ECG, the company said the recent consistent power outages are caused by an increased demand which results in blown fuses and broken conductors leading to power outages, especially during peak load hours (7 pm – 11 pm). It assured consumers that efforts are underway to upgrade the transformers for a more stable power supply.
However, energy experts say untimely payments to power producers may be another factor responsible for the outages.
Energy Policy Analyst, Nana Amoasi VII, indicated that ECG’s inability to pay power producers could be accounting for the power outages. He also believes a load-shedding timetable is long overdue.
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“You will find that the ECG is keeping a chunk of the money instead of paying what is due the other players so the PURC must be tough on ECG. There must be a timetable for the consumers so that they can plan their lives. This is a common sense approach,” he told TV3 News.
Meanwhile, President Akufo-Addo, during his latest State of the Nation’s Address, assured of a stable power supply. He revealed that the government has secured an agreement with power producers where ECG pays $43 million to the power producers monthly.
An evaluation report released by the Public Utility Regulatory Commission (PURC) reveals that ECG has not made payments regularly.
According to the report, the ECG in January reports a total revenue of GHC820m. Payments made to Level A beneficiaries including Amandi and Asogli totalled GHC120m instead of GHC514m.
Level B beneficiaries like Ghana Grid Company Limited (GRIDCo) and Volta River Authority (VRA) received no payments for January.
Over the weekend there have been intermittent power outages in parts of the country including the capital affecting homes and businesses. Stakeholders believe with the All African Games currently ongoing in the country, power outages do no good.