The Minority in Parliament has expressed criticism toward the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission’s (PURC) recent decision to increase electricity and water tariffs. They assert that prevailing economic conditions should have led to a reduction in utility charges rather than an increase.
This criticism comes in response to PURC’s announcement on Monday, June 22, that electricity tariffs will rise by 3.49 percent and water tariffs by 0.85 percent effective July 1, 2026, as part of its third-quarter tariff review.
The Minority claims that consumers anticipated a decrease in utility tariffs of approximately six percent, citing recent improvements in key economic indicators and developments within the energy sector.
During an interview on Accra-based Citi FM, the Deputy Ranking Member on Parliament’s Energy Committee, Collins Adomako-Mensah, questioned the rationale for the latest tariff increases, arguing that the figures provided by the Commission do not justify the adjustments.
He stated, “How does merely a change in exchange rate of 0.2% lead to an increase in electricity tariffs by nearly 4%? It simply does not make sense. I am astonished that PURC is implementing this decision. Cumulatively, they have increased electricity tariffs by 31.69% from January 2025 to the present.
“It was only during the first and second quarters of this year that they reduced tariffs by 4%. Even then, we challenged that decision. I am surprised that PURC is imposing this on the Ghanaian public. This particular increase, based on the figures provided, does not seem mathematically justifiable to me,” he remarked.
Mr. Adomako-Mensah argued that recent improvements within the utility sector should have resulted in lower tariffs for households and businesses, rather than further increases.
The Minority also contends that the latest adjustment raises concerns regarding the rationale behind the quarterly tariff review mechanism, especially given previous explanations that such reviews were linked to Ghana’s program with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) under the previous Akufo-Addo administration.
In announcing the new rates, PURC stated that the adjustments were made in accordance with its mandate to conduct quarterly reviews of utility tariffs to reflect changes in key variables affecting the operations of utility service providers.
The Commission indicated that factors such as exchange rate movements, inflation, fuel costs, and the generation mix informed the latest review.
Nonetheless, the Minority asserts that the new tariffs will place additional financial strain on consumers and businesses already grappling with high living costs, insisting that the figures do not support the increases announced by the regulator.
Credit: myjoyonline
