Ghana’s southern power distribution company, ECG, has recorded Gh¢ 8.99 billion ($1,186,142,507.55)cumulatively for both technical and commercial losses for a period of five years under the current administration.
Over the same period, ECG also recorded a collection losses of Gh¢4,125,100,000.
This could best be described as monies ECG collected but was unaccounted for rather than consumer thefts.
In 2017, ECG recorded system losses of 24.25 per cent of the total power distributed to consumers. This translated into Gh¢1,311,942,569.99 in monetary terms.
In 2018, it recorded 24.30 per cent system losses, which translates into Gh¢1,498,361,624.01. The trend of system losses increased from 24.30 per cent in 2018 to 24.68 per cent which translates to Gh¢1,706,179,285.33 in monetary value.
Similarly, in 2020 and 2021, ECG recorded systems losses of 26.20 per cent and 30.31 per cent. This translates to Gh¢2,041,046,339.19 and Gh¢2,438,109,470.47 respectively.
The above figures cumulatively amount to Gh¢8,995,639,288.99.
These figures were contained in a document presented by the Minister for Energy, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, during a press briefing on Wednesday, April 13, 2021.
This trend of losses has become a source of concern to many industry players especially power generation companies.
“It has negatively affected the sector’s revenue requirement. As a result, ECG is unable to meet the agreed credit days to pay full invoices on due dates leading to debt compilation,” an industry expert told energynewsafrica.com.
Source: energynewsafrica.com
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com