Energy Minister-designate Jinapor says ECG needs to replace an approximate 2.9 million meters

The Minister-designate for Energy, John Jinapor says an approximate 2.9 million meters belonging to the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) requires urgent replacement as part of efforts to improve revenue generation for the company.

He said out of the about 5.2 million ECG meters in the system, the about 2.9 million of all them were not working well hence contributing to the revenue generation lapses for the ECG. 

Responding to a question from Lawrence Agyinsam, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Hemang Lower Denkyira Constituency, about improving ECG revenue collection and the possibility of phasing out postpaid meters, when he appeared before Parliament's Appointment Committee for vetting on Monday [Jan 13], John Jinapor talked about the ECG meter statistics in the system.

"Of ECG's 5.2 million total meters, 4.8 million are active, but about 3 million of these are not functioning properly," Mr Jinapor stated.

He said this malfunction represents a significant obstacle to effective revenue collection for the utility company.

To address these challenges, the minister-designate outlined plans to modernise the system through smart metering technology.

The proposed solution includes making meters available for direct purchase by consumers, with installation to be handled by licensed technicians.

He spoke about the mobile money integration, something the ECG has already implemented, which allows customers to activate their meters through a code-based system.

"Because sometimes it costs people more than four or five times to spend money to get the meter. So if we make it readily available and use economies of scale, I'm sure the price will come down," Mr Jinapor explained.