The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), is set to identify and sanction consumers engaged in illegal connections with its newly acquired Utility Geographical Information system.
The over US$ 8 million project which forms part of the modernization utility operations of ECG under the Millennium Challenge Corporation, aims at providing a digital platform for the tracking of primary and secondary substations, power lines, transformers, and customer service wires for enhanced service delivery.
Speaking at the inauguration of the Utility Geographic Information System, the Country Director of the Millennium Challenge Corporation, Steven Marmar, said the facility would help reduce the level of field visits by ECG officials.
“Today, we celebrate the inauguration of our new Information Management System to support ECG effort to manage our operations of utility to the Graphic Information System to better plan for and manage assets as well as support strategy-driven by decision-making for networking improvement and operations. It is a digital platform and mapping tool that has the potential of being a backbone of modern utility operation.”
Clampdown on power theft
Recently, two companies, Samnort Company Limited and Concrete Jungle Coffee Club and Wellness, were caught by ECG for illegal meter bypass (illegal connection), and have since been disconnected and will be handed over to the police in the coming days.
Samnort, a sachet water producing company, owes about GH¢62,000, while Concrete Jungle had no debt but has since been surcharged in excess of GH¢250,000 for power theft.
The Accra East region of the Electricity Company of Ghana has discovered that both companies used power for a period spanning about 12 months unaccounted for.
A special disconnection task force from the Electricity Company of Ghana is on a mission to recover debts from clients caught engaging in meter bypass.
Concrete Jungle operates a restaurant at Cantonments in Accra, while Samnort Company Ltd undertakes water production at Nsawam.
Speaking to Citi News, the PRO of the Accra East Region of ECG, Mary Eshun-Oppong, confirmed the reports and said “both companies will be made to pay all outstanding debts plus the fine for illegal connection before the matter is handed over to the police for further action”.
So far, the power distributor is on the heels of 27 public and private institutions heavily indebted to the power distribution company.
