The Public Utilities Regulatory Commission's (PURC) approach for the most recent rate increases has drawn criticism from the Minority in Parliament.
The Caucus believes that the estimations made by PURC were incorrect.
The NDC MPs stated their opposition to the increases in a press release that was released and signed by John Abdulai Jinapor, the ranking member of the Energy and Mines Committee of Parliament, on Friday, January 20.
They claim that the Commission is employing an unconventional strategy to assist the government in fulfilling the conditions set forth by the IMF for the energy industry.
They said that they would vehemently oppose the increase in order to safeguard consumers. According to the information that is currently available, all three hydroelectric dams have seen exceptionally high heights at the start of 2023 and are thus better positioned to produce more hydroelectricity than they have in the past.
Based on the predictions of the Energy Commission, we are convinced that hydro will generate at least 35% of the total energy. As a result, we disapprove of the 26% Hydro mix utilised to calculate the most recent tarrif changes.
"With this declaration, the Minority requests of the PURC to stop using such unconventional techniques, which is essentially a back door way to satisfy the IMF conditions in the energy sector," the statement reads.
Electricity and water rates been risen by PURC by 29.96% and 8.3%, respectively. Beginning on February 1, 2023, the revised rates will be in effect.
This comes after the completion of its regulatory procedure for the utility tariffs' quarterly adjustment for the first quarter of 2023.
According to the Commission, the procedure complies with the Quarterly Tariff Review Mechanism and Guidelines as stated in the Commission's major tariff review decision from August 2022.
This was said in a news statement sent out on January 16 in Accra.
However, several CSOs and customers have fought back since the announcement.
For instance, the new power prices' underlying assumptions have been called into doubt by the Institute for Energy Security (IES). Considering that the water elevations for the Bui and Akosombo generating stations (GS) have improved and are expected to be able to produce close to 38% of the power in 2023, according to the IES, the PURC's assumption that the electricity generation mix would be 26.11% hydro and 73.89% thermal was unfounded.
"Although the IES had predicted an increase in the average electricity end-user tariff (GH/kWh) for residential, non-residential, and special load tariff electricity consumers within the year, the expected increase in tariff was anticipated to be marginal should more hydroelectric power be produced from the generation mix," the report reads.
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