Ghanaians will start paying extra for energy and water today.

Ghanaians will now pay more for the use of energy and water.

This comes after the Public Utility Regulatory Commission (PUCR) approved a 27.15 percent water price and a 21.55 percent power tariff for the main tariff review that will take place from 2022 to 2025.

At a recent news conference in Accra, Dr. Ismael Ackah, the Executive Secretary of the Commission, made this announcement.

As a result, lifeline household power users (0–30 kW/h) will now pay 41.90 pesewas rather than the previous 36.20 pesewas.

The price for all other residential customers would range from 89.04 to 128.39 pesewas per kWh.

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Small and medium-sized firms that use between 0 and 300 kWh of electricity pay 83.78 pesewas, while those that use between 300 kWh and 600 kWh or more pay between 89.15 and 133.09 pesewas.

The new rate for residential water users would be 4.0 pesewas per metric tonne (up from 3.29 pesewas previously), while the price for non-residential users would be 11.21 pesewas. Commercial customers would pay a monthly fee of 15 to 49 pesewas.

According to Dr. Ackah, when determining the new tariff for the following three years, the Commission took into account a number of economic factors, such as the exchange rate and inflation, utility-related factors, such as the operational costs of the utilities, and the general circumstances of the consumers who would be paying the water and electricity tariffs.

He outlined how the Commission recognized that, in balancing the interests of service providers and consumers, the economic factors that had led to the significant increases that the service providers had proposed also had an impact on consumers.

The Executive Secretary stated that this year’s tariff addressed the structural issues currently facing businesses, particularly SMEs, to increase their competitiveness, viability, and capacity to hire more Ghanaians.

According to him, in order to solve the issue, small and medium-sized business owners in the hairdressing and beauty parlors/salons, barbershops, tailoring and dressmaking shops, welding, mechanics, cold stores, chop bars, and other related industries have come together for the first time.

“Among other things, carpentry and vulcanizing workshops will now have cheaper tariffs than home consumer class.

The goal, he continued, is to help business grow and improve its capacity to produce quality employment.

Dr. Ackah reaffirmed that the Commission will keep an eye on how the Utility Service Providers conducted their business to ensure value for money and high-quality service delivery.

For the 2022–2025 tariff review, every utility has requested a tariff increase.

The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) proposed a 148% increase in pricing for 2022, while the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) requested a 334% increase in water rates.

A 37% rate hike was suggested by the Volta River Authority (VRA), a 113% rise by the Northern Electricity Distribution Company (NEDCO), and a 48% increase by Ghana Grid Company Limited (GRIDCO) for the transmission price.

Following Utility Service Provider recommendations and a proposal from Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) regarding predicted natural gas volumes and rates by gas supply sources served as the foundation for the tariff review process.

The utility service providers then had the chance to communicate their plans to the general public and important interest organizations including the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) and the Trades Union Congress during the PURC’s broad stakeholder consultations (TUC).

After that, there were in-depth analysis, heated discussions, and additional lengthy consultations before the tariff determinations for the years 2022–2025 were approved.

In 2018, there was a significant review of tariffs, which led to a reduction in electricity rates of 17.5% for residential customers and 30% for non-residential customers.