Parliament intervenes in ECG billing blues

Members of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Mines and Energy met with officials of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) yesterday on the high electricity tariffs but emerged with conflicting statements on what had transpired.

While the Chairman of the committee, Alhaji Ahmed B. Sorogho,  told journalists  that the meeting was fruitful and that both parties had agreed that there was over-billing,  the Ranking Member on the committee,  Mr K.T. Hammond, gave indication  that that was not the case and that members had left the meeting more confused.

"We had a fruitful meeting. We are finding a way of resolving the problem. We have agreed that there was over-billing.  There is a problem and we should all work fast to correct the anomaly. I am confident we will get somewhere," Alhaji Sorogho  said.

He added that the committee would hold discussions with officials of the Energy Commission  and other stakeholders and that the committee would prepare a report on the discussions for the plenary by next week.

Hammond's  conflicting view

But Mr Hammond, for his part, said,  "The meeting left members on the committee more confused than they were before the meeting.

"I have not come out any wiser and I am not sure any of my colleagues have come out any wiser. We have asked them to come again with specific documents. If they had the details, we would have been happy to resolve the matter.

We wanted to know what the situation was before the tariff increases and also the various taxes but they had not been helpful in that respect. I am not satisfied and I do not know who is satisfied, " he said.

Mr Hammond explained that the officials of the ECG could not even tell the committee the situation that pertained before the tariff increases and the exact percentage   increase.

He said the thorny issue of mistakes in the software of the billing meters dragged the meeting on for hours with the ECG  officials failing to come clear on the matter.

Background

The meeting with the officials of the ECG was held on the orders of the Speaker of Parliament, Mr Edward Doe Adam,  after the member for Asawase,  Alhaji Mohammed Muntaka Mubarak, made an urgent statement on the floor of the House on the high electricity tariffs and the impact on the average Ghanaian.

Present at the meeting were Mr John Jinapor, the Deputy Minister of Power, and Dr Kwabena Donkor, a fomer Minister of Power.

The committee is scheduled to meet again on Tuesday.