The Electricity Company of Ghana Limited (ECG) has declared a comprehensive crackdown on unauthorized electricity connections, a move that is set to affect thousands of communities across the country.
This move seeks to reduce the company’s commercial losses, which are largely attributed to illegal connections and meter tampering.
As part of a broader system auditing process, ECG will disconnect all unauthorized services and remove fake meters, ensuring a streamlined power supply system.
According to the company, customers found with unauthorized connections will face disconnection until they apply for new service at *only* ECG’s district offices.
Background
ECG has faced escalating commercial losses, with millions of cedis lost each year due to these illegal activities.
Despite previous measures to combat this issue, including the installation of smart meters and increased surveillance, the problem continues to persist.
With the company grappling with mounting debts and the impending shutdown of the Sunon Asogli Power (Ghana) Limited’s 560MW power plant, the urgency of the situation has intensified.
Kodzo Yaotse, Policy Lead at the Africa Centre for Energy Policy, warns that long-term blackouts are imminent unless immediate and effective measures are taken to negotiate a sustainable agreement with Sunon Asogli.
In a statement released on October 16, 2024, the company disclosed that ECG owes a net receivable of $259 million (excluding fuel) as of the end of September 2024.
Despite Sunon Asogli’s decision not to invoice ECG for idle capacity, the debt owed has increased by 23% between January and September 2024, with only 22.6% of the invoices for that period settled through the Cash Waterfall Mechanism.
The company expressed deep regret over the impact of the shutdown on the national power supply but emphasized that it had no alternative.
Asogli has also called on the Ministry of Finance to intervene and facilitate a resolution that will allow it to resume operations as soon as possible.
