Dumsor: No ECG transformer was overloaded after our checks – PURC

A Commissioner of the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission, Ishmael Edjekumhene, has dismissed claims by the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) regarding some 360 overloaded transformers.

His statement comes after a hefty fine imposed by the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) on former ECG board members for failing to notify consumers before power interruptions, as mandated by Regulation 39 of L.I. 2413.

Speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show, Mr Edjekumhene who is also the Executive Director of the Kumasi Institute of Technology and Environment (KITE), expressed his surprise at the Managing Director of ECG’s announcement that 630 transformers were overloaded leading to intermittent power cuts.

This claim was not previously reported to the PURC despite regular monitoring.

“So, we were just following up on information that ECG itself has put into the public domain which the regulator wasn’t aware. So, when we wrote to the ECG, if that wasn’t the case they should probably have said that that wasn’t the case. But they gave us all the information.

“We have gone out to all the transformers, at least a majority of the transformers and it is turning out to be that those transformers were not overloaded. That is why GRIDCO said they gave instruction and ECG is not complying with those directives in a timely manner,” he stated.