Nana Yaa Jantuah
The Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC), says claims that the renewed power cuts emanate from lack of money are at best speculative.
Director of Public Affairs at the PURC, Nana Yaa Jantuah, said there is no evidence to back the claims that the power generators haven’t had the needed cash to procure fuel to power their machines to generate more power.
Nana Yaa Jantuah was speaking on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show on the resurging power outages endured by citi dwellers.
Many residents especially in the capital have had to endure escalating power rationing known locally as ‘Dumsor.’
Experts have blamed the development on the inability of the power generators – the Volta River Authority (VRA) – to obtain gas from Nigeria to power its thermal plants.
But the PURC spokesperson says, “it is speculation; we believe that if you plan well under the circumstances, you should be able to deal with all these temporary shocks that come with electricity.”
Whilst conceding that the Commission is still investigating the claims, Nana Yaa Jantuah said she didn’t think it was a money issue because the PURC approved a 59.2% tariff increase for the power generators and distributors.
The companies cannot be complaining about money after this new tariff, she asserted.
Contributing to the discussion, a member of Parliament’s Finance Committee, Dr. Akoto Osei, said the tariff increase was actually more than 59.2 percent.
He said there was an extra 10 percent tax imposed by government on electricity.
Responding to Nana Yaa Jantuah on the financing issue, Dr. Akoto said, “VRA’s debt to the banking system is not trivial; VRA’s debt to Atoabo is known; VRA’s debt to WAPCo is known; VRA’s debt to N-Gas is known.”
Until these debts are paid, he said, the country will continue to struggle to meet its energy needs.
-Myjoyonline