In a candid discussion on Morning Starr with Naa Dedei Tettey, the Head of Research and Corporate Affairs at The Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) addressed the recent electricity and water tariff adjustments, defending the decision amidst public concern.
The official explained that the new tariffs were not only influenced by ongoing economic factors but were also a direct result of a significant outstanding debt carried over from the previous quarters.
He said, “It’s for the first two quarters, the first and second quarter of 2025. And mind you, we do have an outstanding debt of 976 million cedis carried from last quarters, 2024 quarters and we took 50 percent of that in addition to whatever it is that we have done for this period.”
According to the PURC official, if there had been no arrears from previous periods, the tariff would have been in the range of 6 percent.
However, because of the outstanding debt, a more substantial adjustment was required. He continued, “So had it been that there was no arrears at all, the tariff would have been in the range of 6 percent.
“But because we do have arrears to clear, and 50 percent of that has been added to it, we shot the electricity tariffs to 14.75 percent.”
Despite the increase, the official assured that the situation could have been worse. He pointed out that previous tariff hikes had been much higher, saying, “We have seen before, 29.96%, we have seen 18.36 percent.”
The official emphasized that the commission had made efforts to reduce the impact on consumers by limiting the adjustment to only 50 percent of the outstanding debt.
“So we have seen much higher figures than the 14.75 percent. If we had pushed through the entire 976 million cedis outstanding debt, we would have been seeing a tariff in the region of 24 percent on a minor adjustment, not a major tariff, just a minor adjustment,” he explained.
The decision to limit the tariff increase to 14.75 percent, despite the outstanding debt, was a deliberate one, the official noted.
He explained that the commissioners of PURC chose to minimize the burden on consumers, stating, “But because the commissioners thought it wise that, look, let’s reduce the burden on consumers and take on board only 50 percent of the outstanding debt, we have seen a reduction in the tariff to 14.75 percent. But we’ve seen much higher figures before.”
