PURC could have found a better approach to settle issues with ECG - Dr Manteaw

The Chairman of the Coalition of Stakeholders on Electricity Contracts and Arrangements, Dr Steve Manteaw, has expressed his displeasure with the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) regarding its approach to handling the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) for overseeing power outages without notifying consumers.

According to him, the issue could have been best settled through a stakeholder engagement, adding that what has transpired between the PURC and ECG in the public space is very unfortunate.

Speaking on JoyNews’ Newsfile on Saturday, April 20, Dr Manteaw stated that the issues between the PURC and ECG have the potential to degenerate into bad blood and could eventually undermine industrial harmony and cooperation among the players.

He clarified that it is unfortunate because the issues with PURC and ECG are avoidable, stressing that as a regulator, the PURC does not only seek to enforce compliance with the rules of the industry but also exists to resolve disputes among players when they occur.

Read also: ECG board members to cough up GHS5.868m in PURC fine over dumsor

“So rather than flex its muscles openly, I believe the PURC could have adopted a different approach and created a forum for all the players, including the Ministry of Finance - because it is very critical to this discussion.

“And I doff my hat to the Mines and Energy Committee of Parliament and the approach they adopted in getting to the bottom of this matter which settled the arguments as to whether we are in 'dumsor' or not.

“That’s what you do.

You bring all the players into one room and then you actually argue your differences behind the scenes, and it is only when you come to some conclusion that you go public,” he said.

Dr Manteaw noted that for PURC to be seen as adjudicating openly and in public, it raises some questions.

“PURC has been in existence, and I have time and again argued that these entities have been sleeping on the job.

There have been instances where there have been unexplained outages, and then you have GRIDCo and ECG issuing contradictory statements, and you don’t hear from the PURC.

“But I believe that it is not for the entities to tell us; it is for the regulator to investigate and then come out as the arbiter to tell consumers why we have to sleep in darkness, but often times, we don’t see them.

“The PURC is visible when it comes to tariff fixing, so I’m happy they are now beginning to assess themselves, but I think that the approach needs to be looked at so that we avoid acrimony and make everybody comfortable and able to deliver on their mandate,” Dr Manteaw stressed.

On the matter of whether the board members of ECG could pay the fine or not, he believes it would have to take the court to settle that issue.