Dr. Stephen Manteaw, a policy analyst, has criticized the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) for its silence regarding recent power disruptions in the nation.
According to Dr. Manteaw, the Commission is disregarding its legal obligation to secure the consumer’s interest.
According to him, this careless attitude is extremely undesirable to consumers and must be criticized.
In an interview on Joy FM’s Top Story with Evans Mensah on Monday, July 10, Dr. Manteaw expressed concern over the PURC’s continued reticence on such matters.
“For me, the most disappointing aspect of all of these is the PURC’s reticence on this issue. PURC has yet to comment on this matter. Let it be known that the PURC is an independent arbitrator charged with protecting consumer interests and ensuring that we receive the finest possible service.
“They have yet to inform us whether or not there has been a significant problem in the electricity sector and how many hours it has been ongoing. Then, for lack of a better expression, PURC is slacking off.”
The Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo), operators of the National Interconnected Transmission System, announced on Friday evening that there was a deficit in thermal power generation as a result of limited gas supply from the Atuabo Gas Processing Plant (GPP) and the West African Gas Pipeline (WACo).
In a separate release issued on Friday, July 7, the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) apologized to consumers experiencing power outages as a consequence of the situation.
In a Monday press release, Ghana Gas also apologized to the public, stating that they regret causing any inconvenience to their valued customers.
“The Ghana National Gas Limited Company’s policy of continuous process improvement allows us to strengthen our business as the strategic partner of the various power generation companies serving the Ghanaian people.”
However, Ghana Gas also indicated that an issue with their on-site power generation system led to the temporary closure of the Atuabo Gas Processing Plant last Friday, resulting in a gas supply shortage to the power generating companies.
This resulted in a 30% decrease in the amount of gas supplied to our downstream power and non-power customers. Our engineers and third-party contractors diligently labored around the clock for five hours to restore normal operations.”
During the five-hour power outage, Ghana Gas made alternative provisions for emergency mobile power generation units so that natural gas could be transported to various power generation companies.
