The Public Utility Regulatory Commission (PURC) will be announcing its quarterly tariff adjustment later his week.
PURC adjusts tariffs to reflect changes in macroeconomic variables such as inflation and exchange rate.
The review will therefore see an upward or downward adjustment.
The Head of Research and Cooperate Affairs at the PURC, Dr. Eric Obutey in an interview said “the cedi’s rate against the dollar and inflation are some of the factors we try to correct using the quarterly tariff adjustments. We should be expecting an announcement before the close of 2022 because it is supposed to take effect from the 1st of January.”
PURC earlier announced a 27.15% increase in tariff for electricity and 21.55% increase in water tariff effective September 1 this year.
This comes after the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) and Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) proposed a tariff increase by 148% and 334% respectively and both utility facilities justified the upward review of tariffs despite the worsening cost of living.
“The sharp increase was due to the gap between the actual cost recovery tariff and PURC-approved tariffs as well as the cost of completed projects,” ECG said
The GWCL also added that while the average tariff per cubic metre in 2019 was 1.27 USD, the same was reduced to USD 1.13 as a result of cedi depreciation.
The tariff adjustment is expected to commence on January 1, 2023.
