Director of Research and Corporate Affairs at PURC, Dr. Eric Kofi Obutey
Director of Research and Corporate Affairs at the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC), Dr. Eric Kofi Obutey, has disclosed that the recent increase in tariffs by the commission is attributed to the operational and capital expenses of the various utilities.
The PURC had on Monday, August 15 approved the increase in water and power charges. As of September 1, utility users will pay an additional 27.15 percent for electricity and a further 21.55 percent for water.
However, in an interview with Samuel Eshun on e.tv Ghana’s “Fact Sheet”, Dr. Obutey explained that the commission needed to adopt a different routine in adjusting the country’s tariff rates taking into consideration the capital expenses of utilities.
According to him, these included grant funds, investments funded by the government and internally generated funds.
“The commission looked at the operational expenses of the utilities as well as the capital expenses of the utilities. Operational expenses were fully granted to the utilities just to make sure that they are able to run. They include the HR, maintenance, lubricants, fuel and all that so that was full granted to the utilities,” he noted.
“The capital expenses the commission had to take a different route by looking at the expenses that have been funded by grants, the investments that have been funded by government funding and also the investment funded with internally generated funds. So all of that was considered to arrive at the figures that we came up with yesterday for the public,” he added.
Meanwhile, the public, particularly the Minority in Parliament, has reacted negatively to this decision, claiming that the additional tariffs will make Ghanaians’ already high cost of living even higher.
In a news release issued on Monday, John Jinapor, the ranking Member of Parliament’s Mines and Energy Committee, stated that the rise will also “worsen the plight of the already impoverished Ghanaian.”
In response to questions regarding the increase, Dr. Obuteyclarified that the tough economic conditions that consumers have been complaining about are also having a significant negative impact on utility providers, necessitating the adjustment of the tariffs.
“We took all of those things into consideration. We know inflation is on the ascendency, the exchange rate is depreciating, and it’s affecting the utilities as well as affecting consumers. So we took all those factors into consideration before we came out with this tariff,” he said.