The Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) has announced an upward review of water and electricity tariffs for the third quarter of 2024.
The new tariffs, which take effect July 1, 2024, will push water up by 5.16 percent for all customer classes, while electricity will jump by 3.45 percent for lifeline consumers (0–30 kWh), and 5.84 percent for all other residential consumers who are not part of the lifeline category bracket (31 kWh and above), as well as the non-residential category.
The commission also approved an increase of 4.92 percent in the electricity tariff for the industrial category for the period under review.
A statement issued on Friday, May 31, 2024, and signed by the Executive Secretary of the PURC, Dr. Ishmael Ackah, said the new tariff review was occasioned by several factors, including the cedi depreciation, rising inflation, the cost of fuel, as well as the electricity generation mix.
He explained that these reviews have been undertaken in line with the commission’s Quarterly Tariff Review Mechanism, which tracks and incorporates movements in key uncontrollable factors, namely the exchange rate between the United States Dollar and the Ghana Cedi, the domestic inflation rate, the electricity generation mix, and the cost of fuel, mainly natural gas.
He said these reviews were undertaken to maintain the real value of the tariffs, thereby keeping utility service providers financially viable to enable them to deliver their services to consumers.
Dr. Ackah explained that the total revenue requirement for the first quarter of 2024 amounted to GH¢5.67 billion.
He said in the second quarter, the revenue requirement was projected to be GH¢6.81 billion. This will result in an increase of GH¢1.14 billion over the first quarter revenue requirement.
He said the commission, however, decided to recover GH¢5.90 billion of the GH¢6.81 billion required for the second quarter.
He said this decision was taken by the commission considering the revenue collection performance of the sector since continuous increases in tariffs have not yielded the corresponding increase in revenue collection by the utilities to cover sector expenditure.
In addition, the Executive Secretary noted that the commission considered the negative effect of passing on the entire revenue required in one tranche to customers.
Dr. Ackah noted that the total revenue requirement for the water sector in the first quarter of 2024 amounted to GH¢635.86 million.
He expressed gratitude to all stakeholders for their support as it continues to implement these Quarterly Tariff Reviews to address the ever-changing needs of the utility service providers and enable them to undertake their efficient operations.