Kwame Agyeman-Budu, Managing Director of Electricity Company of Ghana(ECG), Republic of Ghana.

Ghana’s power distribution and retail company, ECG, has recovered GH¢9,439,996.01 from customers engaged in illegal connection of power in the Accra East Region.

The amount represents penalties and surcharges leveled against customers who were caught using electricity without lawful authorization in 2019, and the money represents a 53 percent increase over the 2018 figure of GH¢6,168,151.45.

Those who were caught in the illegal act by the Revenue Protection Unit of ECG  included; hotel operators, restaurants, manufacturing companies, cold stores, pubs, and other notable individuals.

The illegal act was detected in Makola, Legon, Roman Ridge, Teshie, Kwabenya, Dodowa, and Mampong.

The Manager of the Revenue Protection Unit of the Accra East Region, Jonathan Asante, told pulse.com.gh, that the region detected and mainstreamed 4.11 gigawatts (GWh) of energy which the company would have lost in 2019, and that the energy recovered in gigawatts represents a significant leap in the revenue fortunes of the company.

He said, “The units retrieved in 2019 represent payments made to the company by defaulters which amounted to the sum of GH¢9,439,996.01 million and reflected a percentage increase of 53 from the 2018 figure of GH¢6,168,151.45 million.”