PURC cuts electricity tariff by 6.56% for certain residential consumers; lifeline tariff maintained

As part of the Public Utilities Regulation Commission’s (PURC) quarterly tariff review mechanism, some reforms have been made on electricity tariffs, which are to take effect from April 1, 2024, to June 30, 2024.

In a press release dated February 27, 2024, the PURC explained that to provide effective services for its consumers, there was a need to make new reforms to the tariffs.

The Commission further revealed some uncontrollable factors like the generation mix, exchange rate, inflation, fuel prices, living conditions of Ghanaians, and competitive industries that influenced these new reforms.

“These reviews are undertaken mainly to maintain the real value of the tariffs, thereby keeping the utility service providers financially viable to enable them to deliver on their services to consumers.”

“Having considered all the underlying factors, the Commission wishes to announce that there will be no change (0%) in the electricity tariffs for lifeline consumers (0–30 kWh) as well as for residential consumers within the consumption bracket of 0-300 kWh,” it stated.

The statement added that there will be an average reduction on 301 kWh consumption of 6.56% and above for residential consumers, whereas there will be no change in tariffs for non-residential class consumers who consume electricity within 0-300 kWh.

“However, consumers within 301 kWh and above will experience an average reduction of 4.98%,” it hinted.

Touching on tariff bands, PURC emphasised the reduction of residential tariff bands from four to three, indicating that it will ease the implementation and interpretation of approved tariffs for consumers as well as make metres affordable to consumers.

There has also been a reduction of 4.88% on the Special Load Tariff, Low Voltage (SLT-LV), and a reduction in the non-residential bands to two bands.

“Customers in the 0-300kWh range will experience no change, while customers who consume over 300kWh will experience a tariff reduction of 4.98%.”

“The Commission has also merged the high voltage, medium voltage, and steel companies into one band, now paying GHS 1.5252/kWh, leading to a 4,72% point reduction in the tariff of the high voltage consumers,” it mentioned.

However, the water tariff under the quarterly review remains the same for all customer classes.