William Boateng
The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) has ceased the importation of electricity meters into the country.
This follows the decision by some locally based companies to design and manufacture residential and commercial smart meters.
According to the ECG, the move is to help create more employment opportunities for Ghanaians and help improve the local economy.
Director of Communications at ECG, William Boateng revealed this when he interacted with some selected journalists from some parts of the country over the weekend at Cape Coast.
He explained that the local companies numbering about six at the moment have been allowed to produce Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS)-compliant smart prepaid meters which function the same way.
He pointed out that ECG wanted to allow private sector participation in the company’s commercial aspect.
“So the Ghanaian companies are funding the project to produce made in Ghana smart meters”, he added.
He revealed that one of the companies, Alpha T&D is currently offering direct employment of about 250 to 300 and indirectly employing about 1500 to 2000 people.
“So there is job creation. There is also transfer of knowledge and after sale service which was not the case when ECG was importing the meters”, he added.
He said, “Beyond producing the meters, the contracts indicate that the companies will do the installation of the meters through ECG.”
He also told journalists that ECG has begun to replace postpaid, non-smart prepaid and faulty meters with MMS-compliant smart prepaid meters nationwide.
He explained that the meter replacement exercise formed part of the company’s loss reduction programme and to improve energy accounting.
He stressed that the programme will also ensure the availability of meters to meet service connection requests and reduce system losses.
He assured customers of the convenience the smart prepaid meters offers, adding “With the smart prepaid meters, a customer can buy credit unto their meters from the comfort of their homes or anywhere they are, by downloading the ECG Power app, or using a short code”.
He explained that outstanding balances on the old meter would be accounted for and transferred to the smart prepaid meters.
He pointed out the meter replacement exercise was free, and advised customers against any payments.
From Emmanuel Opoku, Cape Coast