Ghana: PURC Vows To Sanction Power Utilities Over Recent Power Outages If–

Ghana’s power utilities regulator, Public Utility Regulatory Commission (PURC), says it is investigating the recent power outages being experienced in the country.

The commission said it will not hesitate in taking appropriate regulatory action against any utility service provider in the power value chain found noncompliant with regulatory standards and benchmarks.

Several parts of the West Africa nation have been experiencing power outages.

However, the situation was compounded last Sunday when the entire nation was thrown into total darkness.

The country’s power transmission company, GRIDCo, in a statement, explained that its investigation revealed that there was a technical fault on its Prestea-Obuasi transmission lines at about 2:10pm, leading to shutdown of all generating plants at that time.

Reacting to the development, the power utilities regulator, in a statement issued and signed by its Executive Secretary, Mami Dufie Ofori, on Thursday, acknowledged that the outages have been on the increase in the past few weeks.

“The poor service was compounded by the total system collapse that occurred in the transmission network, resulting in a nationwide blackout on Sunday, 7th March, 2021,” the commission noted.

While acknowledging the press release from GRIDCo, ECG, and NEDCo on these incidences, the PURC assured consumers that it is investigating the issue and would take appropriate regulatory action against any utility service provider in the power value chain found noncompliant with regulatory standards and benchmarks.

“The Commission invites affected consumers to submit their complaints to the utility service provider in the first instance, and if not resolved, forward them to the PURC offices in their respective areas for investigation and redress,” the commission concluded.

Source:www.energynewsafrica.com