Napoleon Gbeti addressing the press
Electricity consumers in the Ketu South Municipality have petitioned the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) over what they describe as persistent and excessive billing, accusing the power distributor of subjecting residents and businesses to financial hardship and psychological distress.
Addressing a press conference, Napoleon Gbeti, who spoke on behalf of electricity consumers in the Ketu South Municipality and beyond, said problems associated with ECG’s billing system had persisted for about five years, resulting in widespread frustration among consumers in the municipality and beyond.
According to Mr. Gbeti, the concerns included inaccurate bills, excessive estimated consumption, backdated billing, continued billing of disconnected accounts and other anomalies that had made it difficult for consumers to determine and pay for the actual electricity they consumed.
He said it was unacceptable for customers with functioning meters to be billed based on estimated or “predictive” consumption instead of actual meter readings. He argued that the primary purpose of installing meters was to accurately measure the amount of electricity consumed by customers.
The petitioners alleged that some customers had received the same meter readings and consumption figures repeatedly for several months, while others who had consistently paid their bills were suddenly presented with backdated bills covering periods dating several years earlier.
They cited instances where a bill issued in August 2026 had its previous meter reading backdated to November 2024, resulting in an inflated bill even though the customer had paid bills issued during the intervening period. They also complained that accounts belonging to customers who had been disconnected for years continued to generate bills.
The petitioners further raised concerns about faulty meters that were no longer in use but allegedly continued to generate bills, as well as replacement meters that they claimed were not properly captured in ECG’s billing system. They said such lapses allowed consumption to accumulate until customers were eventually presented with large lump-sum bills.
They also alleged that actual meter readings taken by ECG meter readers were sometimes ignored by the billing system, resulting in customers being underbilled for several months before receiving large adjustment bills. They argued that consumers should not be made to bear the financial burden of billing errors for which they were not responsible.
The petitioners therefore called for the suspension and replacement of the newly introduced billing software, an end to disconnections over disputed bills, and monthly meter readings for all customers. They also demanded the cancellation of debts arising from inaccurate or disputed bills, improved customer service and urgent measures by ECG and the government to restore public confidence in the electricity billing system.
FROM Daniel K. Orlando