Residents in the YiloKrobo and Lower ManyaKrobo protesting against prepaid meters
The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) has denied claims it intends to use the planned deployment of prepaid meters to the Krobo District in the Eastern Region to punish its customers.
Thousands of residents in the YiloKrobo and Lower ManyaKrobo Municipalities on Monday, November 22 embarked on a demonstration to among other demands seek the cancellation of the intended installation of prepaid meters in the area, investigate the shooting incident that occurred three years ago, and an end to ECG operations in the Area.
Organisers of the demonstration, the United Krobo Foundation said a petition highlighting its demands had been sent to the Energy Minister, Honourable John Peter Amewu.
But responding to the demands of the demonstrators, Madam Sakyiwaa Mensah who is the Public Relations Officer for the ECG in the Tema Region which has oversight responsibilities over the Krobo Area, denied that the company had started installing prepaid meters in the Krobo District and neither does it intend to use the prepaid meters as a form of "punishment" for its customers.”
Explaining the processes towards the installation process, she said the company, before the installation of any prepaid meter in any district, conducts a pre-installation survey as well as setting up vendor points before the deployment. None of these, she added has been done yet in the Krobo District.
She however said the deployment of prepaid meters to the Krobo areas remained part of its plans just like in most operational areas of the Company.
According to Madam Sakyiwaa Mensah, the ECG would offer the same payment flexibility in the defrayment of the outstanding debts should prepaid meters be installed so that customers will not be in a situation where they must pay the entire accumulated debt before using power.
Accumulated bills
On the controversial debts accrued between 2014 and 2017 which led to the genesis of the current impasse, she attributed the problem to the introduction of a new billing software which implementation was eventually put on hold.
She said, “In 2016, we started using a new billing software which gave us some challenges. We suspended the use of this software in the interim,” she explained, adding that the problem happened in all ECG operational areas such as Ashanti, Western, Eastern, Volta, Central, and Greater Accra Regions and not just the Krobo areas.
According to the PRO, though the billing anomaly was subsequently rectified and the bills investigated and corrected, the company encountered issues of non-payment of bills which has since been ongoing in its Krobo District.
"The PURC also investigated on their own and vouched that ECG had indeed cleared and worked on the wrong bills,” noted the PRO who added that some customers in Krobostill insist that these investigations have not been done.
The company as part of its roadmap towards the resolution of the impasse “ring-fenced” the disputed 2014-2017 bills for further investigations with consumers required to pay the ‘clean’ bills from 2018 to date. However, the majority of the consumers still refuse to pay.
“The bills from 2018 till now have all been correct. There have not been any problems with them. However, as customers chose not to pay these legitimate bills, it has led to an accumulation of debt. The bills from 2018 till date are correct and must be paid,” said the PRO.
Madam Sakyiwaa Mensah added that though the ECG usually gives a much shorter time for such debts (3 to 6 months), the Company is making a concession to allow more flexibility in this situation.
Contrary to the demands of the various youth groups that all outstanding debts to date be cancelLed, she said the company cannot cancel debts accumulated for power rightfully consumed and charged.
“The youth groups have asked for a total cancellation of the debt. ECG cannot cancel debts for power which has been legitimately consumed and rightly billed,” she stated.
She however noted that the Company would continue to engage all stakeholders involved and assured its individual customers that the proposed flexible terms of payment are on one on one basis as its doors were opened to deal with each individual customer for their own flexibility.