The Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) has held a stakeholder consultative session in Ho, the Volta Regional capital. This is part of the Commission's nationwide public hearings on the proposed Multi-Year Tariff Order (MYTO) which covers 2025 to 2030. The event, which took place at the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) Hall on Tuesday, September 2025, attracted over 500 participants, including traditional leaders, the clergy, security services, utility service providers and the general public.

Opening Remarks
In his welcome address, the Chairman of the PURC Governing Board, Hon. Moses Asaga, highlighted the critical role of stakeholders in the tariff determination process. He urged consumers to take advantage of the forum to voice out their opinions on the proposals.

Hon. Nana Yaa Jantuah, Senior Presidential Staffer, Board Member, and Chairperson of the PURC Stakeholder Committee, commended the Volta Region for preserving River Volta by avoiding illegal mining activities. She cautioned that safeguarding the river was vital to protecting one of Ghana’s largest sources of energy and water supply.

Utility Service Providers Present Proposals
Officials from the Volta River Authority (VRA), Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo), Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) and Ghana Water Limited (GWL) each took turns to present their proposals, citing rising operational costs, infrastructure investments and accumulated financial losses as justification for upward tariff adjustments.

Public Concerns on ECG’s Proposal
Residents of the Volta Region expressed strong reservations about ECG’s request for tariff increases, raising issues of inefficiency, revenue leakage and poor service delivery. Concerns included:

• Replacement of faulty prepaid meters with postpaid meters, leaving many customers unbilled for up to three years.
• Flat-rate billing that allows for some customers to pay as little as GH¢120 monthly despite high consumption levels.
• Failure to capture and recover huge arrears from customers who got connected through assembly members, with ECG removing meters instead of recovering the debts.
• Loss of imported ECG containers with cables and materials for operational use but allegedly ended up in the wrong hands.
• Weak enforcement of accountability against staff and customers engaged in illegal connections and power theft.
• No sanctions against culprits behind bushfires that destroy poles and transformers, yet ECG seeks tariff hikes to replace damaged installations.
• Poorly functioning electronic payment platforms, with discrepancies between ECG app charges and printed bills.
• General skepticism about whether higher tariffs would lead to improved services, given previous experiences.

Concerns About Ghana Water Limited (GWL)
Participants also challenged GWL’s proposal for increased water tariffs. They questioned whether the planned expansion of the Kpeve Headworks was part of GWL’s investment plan and expressed frustration over:

• The imposition of high-water tariffs on Volta Region residents despite the absence of illegal mining activities that complicate water treatment in other regions.
• GWL’s inability to reduce its high non-revenue water rate of 45.5%, which could significantly improve revenue without burdening consumers.

Background
The PURC was established in October 1997 under the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission Act, 1997 (Act 538), as part of Ghana’s utility sector reforms. It regulates the provision of electricity and water services and transmission of natural gas to ensure fairness and balance between utility providers and consumers.

The Volta Region hearing formed part of PURC’s ongoing consultative process to gather feedback from the public before determining new tariffs for the 2025–2030 period.