Utility tariff hikes by PURC will be fiercely resisted – COPEC

The Executive Secretary of the Chamber of Petroleum Consumers (COPEC), Duncan Amoah, has called on the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) to reverse the decision to impose an upward adjustment of utility tariffs.

Duncan Amoah indicated that industry players will oppose the hikes if the government fails to rescind the decision.

The Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) announced an upward adjustment in the average end-user tariff for electricity by 14.75%, and a 4.02% increase in water tariffs across the board for all categories of consumers.

Executive Secretary of the Chamber of Petroleum Consumers (COPEC), Duncan Amoah, however, opines that the recent tariff hikes are unjustifiable and unreasonable.

Saying, “If you look at the circumstances surrounding the ECG, there are issues of accountability that render even public procurement processes and laws moot and ineffective. We have almost 2,000 containers unaccounted for, running into hundreds of millions of Cedis.

Adding that, “Then, we turn back and claim we don’t have money, hence being unable to sustain operations. Therefore, we are raising tariffs. This doesn’t add up, and PURC needs to backtrack on the decision.”

The revision follows the Commission’s quarterly tariff review process for the first and second quarters of 2025. The PURC attributed the adjustments to factors, including the exchange rate between the Ghana cedi and the US dollar, inflation projections, fuel costs (particularly natural gas), and the current hydro-thermal generation mix.

Duncan Amoah further added that “coming back to the consumer to insist we pay more, I can assure will be resisted fiercely”.

The Chamber of Petroleum Consumers (COPEC) is therefore urging the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) to overturn the upward adjustment of the utilities on the people of Ghana.