Government To Outsource ECG's Billing And Collection Role To Reduce Collection Losses

• Government has announced plans to outsource the collection and billing role of the Electricity Company of Ghana to a private entity
• According to the Deputy Energy Minister, Andrew Egyapa Mercer, this is to eradicate collection losses
• The ECG is currently heavily indebted to independent power producers due to its inability to raise funds to settle their bills in full

The billing and collection role of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) is about to be outsourced to a private company.

The Deputy Energy Minister, Andrew Egyapa Mercer, made this revelation while participating in a panel at the JoyNews national dialogue on the power sector.

According to the deputy minister, the need to outsource the role to a private entity has arisen from the ECG's failure to collect electricity tariffs from consumers efficiently.

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This, he explained, has led to an imbalance in revenue generation and operational costs.

The ECG, as of September 2023, had recorded a total of GH¢2,050,373,143.47 as collection losses.

It is also grappling with a massive debt of $1.5 billion due to its inability to settle bills for electricity purchased from Independent Power Producers (IPPs) in full.

Some have suggested this is the reason behind the erratic power supply Ghanaians have been suffering in recent times.

According to the deputy energy minister, the situation cannot be allowed to continue, hence, the need to bring in private companies to handle ECG's billing and collection role efficiently.

He said privatising that role would help the ECG recover its collection losses and gradually pay off its debts to the IPPs.

He noted that currently, consultations are far advanced concerning the modality of the policy and a pilot study has already been carried out to test its feasibility.

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Meanwhile, the ECG has been tasked to install boundary meters to support the collection of tariffs, completion of which the private companies would be invited.

PURC slaps ECG board, MD with a hefty fine

In a separate story, the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission has fined board members of the Electricity Company of Ghana for not providing a load-shedding timetable.

The fine has affected Keli Gadzekpo and ECG Managing Director Samuel Dubik Mahama.

The commission said 4,142 power outages were carried out within the period covering the fine.

PURC says ECG lied about the cause of Dumsor

Meanwhile, YEN.com.gh has revealed that a PURC Commissioner has revealed that ECG misinformed the public about 360 overloaded transformers, causing an erratic power supply.

According to Ishmael Edjekumhene, the PURC discovered the claim was false after inspecting the transformers.

Source: YEN.com.gh