Release new electricity tariffs now – ACEP to PURC

The Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP) is worried about the delay by the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) to announce new electricity tariffs immediately.

According to ACEP, the delay is creating anxiety among consumers especially those in the business community.

The Commission was supposed to have announced new tariffs in February 2019 but deferred the decision to the end of the second quarter of 2019 which is expected to take effect on July 1, 2019.

The decision to maintain electricity tariffs, according to the PURC, then, was due to “critical emerging issues in the sector… which are expected to affect the final tariff setting.”

“Amongst others, the emerging issues are related to the planned relocation of the Karpowership Plant resulting in fuel switch savings from Heavy Fuel Oil (HFO) to Natural Gas. Secondly, reductions in the price of natural gas are anticipated due to ongoing negotiations by government. These matters are outside the purview of PURC but their outcomes are likely to have measurable impact on the Commission’s decision,” the PURC explained in February 2019.

But ACEP in a statement signed by its Executive Director, Benjamin Boakye insists that if PURC is bent on meeting the July 1 deadline, then it has to announce new tariffs as soon as possible.

“The practice has been that new tariffs are announced at least two weeks prior to effective date. This is necessary to allow stakeholders to adjust their systems and budget to accommodate the new tariff. But [barely] 11 days shy of the proposed 1st July tariff effective date, the tariff has not been announced.

“ACEP does not expect the Commission to, within few days to the effective date, ambush electricity consumers with the new tariff which holds about 90% chance of upward adjustment. This is because doing so potentially distorts the plans of consumers significantly, particularly the business community whose investment decisions have been held hostage by the uncertainty in the expected tariff adjustment level,” ACEP added in the statement.

The policy think tank expects the Commission to be fully sensitive to the realities on the ground “in order not to inject unnecessary shock into plans of consumers and, by extension, the economy.”

“ACEP, therefore, calls on the Commission to communicate to consumers what its intentions are, as to whether it will extend the effective date of the tariff or immediately announce the tariff, to allow consumers time to absorb and adjust to the changes, whatever that may be,” the statement added.