The Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) says, the Public Utility Regulatory Commission (PURC) could have done more to cushion the operations of businesses by reducing water tariffs.
The PURC reviewed water tariffs by 0.34%, electricity by 1.52% effective December 1, 2023 to February 29, 2024.
Reacting to this, the Greater Accra Regional chairman of the AGI, Tsonam Akpeloo says, they will continue to engage the commission to review water tariffs downwards.
“For those members of AGI that use water as their raw material, so the beverages, the water companies, both alcoholic and non alcoholic companies, cost of water becomes crucial.
“Our hope is that on the next review, we will see a downwards increase in water as well”, he added.
Meanwhile, PURC has defended its position on the downward review of utility tariffs, attributing it to a number of factors.
PURC highlighted inflation and a stable exchange rate as some of the factors that resulted in the 1.52 percent decrease in electricity tariffs effective December 1, 2023.
Director of Research and Corporate Affairs, Dr. Eric Obutey, says the production of more gas and hydro also pushed the tariff down.
“The downward review was necessitated by four factors: the generation mix, where we now run more hydro compared to thermal. The hydro now is about 31.9%, and thermal is about 68%.”
“We have a downward trend in inflation, which has dipped by about 3.6%, and we also have fuel prices, which have gone down by about 5.9%. So if you put all together, these necessitated the downward trend in electricity prices,” Dr. Eric Obutey explained.
Nana Ama Nyamekye/Ahotoronline
