Consumers raised concern against tariff increases

Electricity consumers in the Upper East Region on Tuesday raised concern about the intention of the Volta River Authority (VRA) and the Northern Electricity Distribution Company (NEDCo) to increase electricity tariff and said this could cripple businesses.

The customers who raised the concerns during stakeholders’ forum on power distribution in the north organised by the VRA and NEDCo stated that any increase above 100 per cent could bring hardship to clients.

Some of them accused the VRA and NEDCo of rendering poor quality services and said the intention to increase the electricity tariff had no merit.
The forum, which had as its theme: “Power Distribution in the North, the Past, the Present and the Future,” was to educate the public on power distribution in the northern sector and the way forward.

Justifying the reasons for the proposed adjustment in tariffs, the Director of NEDCo in charge of Finance and Commercial, Mr Francis Kusi, said the mission of his outfit was to procure and distribute quality electricity reliably and efficiently to satisfy customers and meet stakeholders’ expectations in Ghana and West Africa.

He said VRA and NEDCo could not accomplish that dream without increasing tariffs because operational cost was high and it was important to increase tariff to be able to provide quality and efficient services to customers.

Mr Kusi said the operations of VRA and NEDCo covered Brong Ahafo, Northern, Upper West and Upper East regions as well as parts of Volta, Ashanti and Western regions.

He said the geographical area of Ghana covered by VRA and NEDCo was about 64% and power is also supplied to some communities in northern part of Togo and Burkina Faso.

The Area Manager of VRA and NEDCo in charge of Upper East, Mr Bukari Danladi, said most of the distribution materials were bought in dollars in dollars and cited the prepaid metres as an example.

He said his outfit kept replacing metres at huge cost because some customers tempered with them.
The Upper East Regional Minister, Alhaji Limuna Mohammed-Muniru, appealed to the Company to dialogue with clients to arrive at a mutually acceptable figure.

Source: GNA