The Director of Policy Engagement and Partnerships at the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), Dr. Kojo Asante, has urged the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) not to pass the cost of inefficiencies, waste, and mismanagement within the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) on to consumers through higher electricity tariffs.
According to him, tariff adjustments should not be used to recover costs arising from governance failures and operational inefficiencies that are within the control of utility providers.
His comments come after the PURC announced upward adjustments in electricity and water tariffs under its latest quarterly tariff review.
Under the Commission’s third-quarter tariff review, electricity tariffs have been increased by 3.49% across the board, while water tariffs have been adjusted upward by 0.85%.
Speaking on The Big Issue on Channel One TV on Saturday, June 27, 2026, Dr. Asante argued that allowing ECG to recover losses caused by its own inefficiencies through tariff increases amounted to unfairly shifting the burden onto consumers.
“If you cannot, as part of ECG, correct these things, there is no way we can allow you to charge. It means that you are cheating us. The cost escalation is self-inflicted, and then you come and put the cost on the customer,” he said.
Dr. Asante said while factors such as inflation and exchange rate movements legitimately influence utility costs, the regulator should also account for technical losses, waste, corruption, and management failures when determining whether tariff increases are justified.
He questioned whether PURC was doing enough to ensure ECG addressed operational inefficiencies before approving tariff adjustments, stressing that consumers should not bear the financial consequences of problems that could be resolved through better management.
“The PURC’s job is to make sure that we are not coming back to these inefficiencies, because these inefficiencies add to the overall cost that leads to producing and distributing electricity to people’s homes,” he said.
He also called for greater transparency in the tariff-setting process, saying consumers deserved to understand the basis for increases and be assured that avoidable costs were not being incorporated into electricity prices.
