PURC to announce quarterly tariff adjustment

The Public Utility Regulatory Commission (PURC) will later his week announce its quarterly tariff adjustment.

The review is expected to take effect from January 1, 2023.

PURC adjusts tariffs to reflect changes in macroeconomic variables such as inflation and exchange rate.

The review to be done by the regulatory authority will either see an upward or downward adjustment.

Head of Research and Cooperate Affairs at the PURC, Dr. Eric Obutey tells Citi News: “The cedi’s rate against the dollar and inflation are some of the factors we try to correct using the quarterly tariff adjustments. We should be expecting an announcement before the close of 2022 because it is supposed to take effect from the 1st of January.”

Earlier this year, the PURC announced a 27.15% increase in tariff for electricity and 21.55% increase in water tariff effective September 1, 2022.

This was after utility companies including the Electricity Company of Ghana and Ghana Water Company Limited proposed an increase in tariffs by 148% and 334% respectively.

The authority justified the upward review of tariffs despite the worsening cost of living.

It explained that the decision was arrived at after rigorous analysis and extensive consultations with industry players, as well as an assessment of the economic conditions of consumers.

The ECG had proposed that its tariffs be increased by 148% for 2022 and with 7.6% average adjustments between the periods of 2023 to 2026.

The sharp increase, according to the ECG was due to the gap between the actual cost recovery tariff and PURC-approved tariffs as well as the cost of completed projects.

The GWCL also argued that while the average tariff per cubic metre in 2019 was 1.27 USD, the same was reduced to USD 1.13 as a result of cedi depreciation.

The GWCL said this had affected its ability to carry out repairs and replacements of aged and obsolete equipment and pipelines.