New ECG Bill Calculation | Tenants To  Fight

New ECG Bill Calculation | Tenants To  Fight

The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) is the company responsible for distributing electricity in the country, Ghana. Upon recent tariff hikes, with the blessings of the regulator, the utility company introduced new ECG bill calculation has never been seen before.

The utility company which losses much of its revenue to waste, according to various reports, usually blames consumers for power theft and non-payment of bills. In an attempt to break-even or make a profit, the regulator granted utility companies in the country to increase tariff costs and introduce certain fundamental changes to their billing structure.

There are two main changes that are being factored into the new bill calculation. The first of the changes initiated by the recommendation of the regulator, PURC, is for domestic consumers to pay more than commercial/ SME consumers to pay more. Even though the argument is that the government wants to cushion commercial consumers, there are ulterior motives. The belief is that domestic consumers are much more than commercial consumers. Therefore, reversing the position of both domestic and commercial consumers will help the electricity company to collect more revenue than before.

The second change that occurred is that the number of units consumed is multiplied by a fixed rate. Previously, when a particular meter consumed more than fifty (50) units, the first fifty (50) units of electricity consumed is multiplied by a lower rate and the remaining units consumed is multiplied by a higher rate before the amounts for both brackets are summed up.

For example

When a consumer uses 70 units of electricity, the first 50 units are multiplied by Ghc0.3261 (50 x Ghc0.3261 = Ghc16.30) and the remaining 20 units are multiplied by Ghc0.6542 (20 x Ghc0.6542 = Ghc13.08). Finally, both total Ghc16.30 and 13.08 will be added (Ghc16.30 + Ghc13.08 = Ghc29.38) for the purposes of the ECG

Bill calculation.

However, the current format means all the 70 units will be multiplied by a flat rate of Ghc0.8904 (70 x Ghc0.8904 = Ghc62.33) to arrive at a total for the purposes of the new ECG Bill calculation.

It must be noted that both the old and the new structure of the bill calculation include other minor additions like street light levy, service charges and National electrification levy.

See also: E-Levy Short Report After 2 Months Implementation. [Shocking But Unsurprising Revelations By IMANI Africa]

The Public Utilities Regulatory Commission, the regulator of utility companies in the country which sanctioned the methods, is yet to be seen doing any serious education of the public and left tenants grumbling among themselves.

Reference: ECG.com.gh

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