The Public Utilities and Regulatory Commission (PURC), has said the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) cannot release a load shedding timetable because the current erratic power supply is just a temporary problem.
The PURC’s announcement comes on the back of mounting pressure from the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), residents and civil society groups, asking the ECG to release a schedule to allow for adequate planning by businesses and households.
[contextly_sidebar id=”QdLTUZyIyXTmcyp9qsJfg8vq4sQNHIPr”]But the Head of Public Affairs at the PURC, Nana Yaa Juantuah, has told Citi News there can only be a timetable when the load shedding prolongs.
‘’If you have a deficit of about 400 megawatts as in capacity , you cannot get that capacity within two weeks but if you have adequate capacity but it is a fuel problem, and it has been stuck up because there is a problem elsewhere which you have no control over, there must be a clear distinction,” she said.
Dumsor unacceptable
Nana Yaa Jantuah further expressed concerns about the ongoing power eruption , saying it is unacceptable.
She questioned why Ghana is still battling with power challenges, when the power sector recently took delivery of 400,000 barrels of light crude oil to power the country’s thermal plants.
“Of course, we know fuel from Nigeria is the best but we do not think as regulators that material comes from only Nigeria, so going forward we should also find out which other destination we can procure fuel so we do not go into this issue of non availability of power.”
‘Dumsor’ is not back – Mahama
President John Mahama recently shied away from declaring that the country has returned to the load shedding regime, despite acknowledging challenges with power supply in the country.
Addressing Muslims during this year’s Eid Mubarak, the president attributed the recent power outages to challenges in getting crude to power some of the country’s thermal plants.
“We are not declaring load shedding; I believe things will normalize but we are taking steps everyday to ensure that Ghana has security when it comes to power,” he emphasized.
–
By: Lorrencia Nkrumah/citifmonline.com/Ghana