NPP Volta Youth Organiser Questions Preferential Tariffs for Some Steel Companies, Alleges PURC Board Interference
NPP Volta Regional Youth Organiser Senyo Amekplenu has raised questions over what he describes as preferential electricity tariffs for some steel companies and alleged interference by members of the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) board in the commission’s administration.
Amekplenu has included the concerns in a 10-page petition to President John Dramani Mahama, calling for an independent investigation into the operations of the regulator.
Speaking on the Asaase Breakfast Show on Tuesday, 15 September, he cited tariff figures he said were published on the PURC website, arguing that some foreign-owned steel companies pay lower electricity tariffs than Ghanaian-owned businesses.
He said the figures he had gathered showed ordinary consumers and businesses under certain tariff categories paying about 208 pesewas per kilowatt-hour, while low-voltage Ghanaian businesses paid about 240 pesewas.
By contrast, he said companies classified under a “special group”, which he described as mostly foreign companies, paid about 136 pesewas per kilowatt-hour.
Amekplenu questioned why some foreign-owned steel companies would pay less for electricity than Ghanaian-owned steel businesses.
“What is it that foreign companies are paying lesser than Ghanaian-owned businesses?” he asked.
He said the petition seeks to establish whether an alleged GH¢5 million contribution was connected to the tariff review that resulted in reduced tariffs for some foreign companies.
He also wants investigators to determine the identity of any recipient of such contributions and whether any contribution was disclosed to PURC and properly accounted for.
Amekplenu stressed that these were matters he was asking to have investigated rather than established findings.
“I am not prejudging anything,” he said.
He also alleged that some PURC board members had become involved in day-to-day administrative decisions, including promotions, staff disciplinary measures and decisions over official travel.
He argued that the board should not take over functions belonging to management and senior officers.
“There should not be a single day that the board should be taking responsibility of management activities,” he said.
Amekplenu further questioned PURC’s approval of a tariff for the AXA Power Tax Credit Project, arguing that the project should have obtained the requisite licences and regulatory approvals before the tariff was granted.
He called for an investigation into whether the necessary approvals had been secured and the legal basis on which the tariff was approved.
Amekplenu said his broader petition contains about seven areas of concern involving PURC, including the alleged levy, tariff treatment, board interference and the regulatory handling of the power project.
He urged relevant stakeholders, including business and labour groups, to support efforts to establish what he described as the facts surrounding the operations of PURC.
The petition, he said, is ultimately aimed at determining whether the allegations are valid and whether any wrongdoing occurred.
Editor:
Obiri-Yeboah
