Power outages: Always give 3 days prior notice — PURC to ECG

The Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) has directed the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) to always give consumers three days prior notice before carrying out any planned power outages.

In an order issued on April 15, and seen by this portal, the PURC said their analysis showed that ECG failed to comply with statutory regulations in notifying consumers of planned outages on several occasions over the past few months.

According to Regulation 39 (4) of the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (Consumer Service) Regulations, 2020 (L.I. 2413), "The public notice shall be given for a period of not less than three working days before the interruption of service."

However, the PURC established from data provided by ECG that there were 163 instances where ECG did not comply with the law in notifying consumers of planned outages.

As part of the order, PURC in the statement said, "For failure to comply with the 3-day statutory notice required under Regulation 39 of L.I. 2413, the Commission hereby imposes a regulatory charge of 3,000 penalty units on ECG for each of the 163 breaches."

The PURC has now directed ECG to ensure strict compliance with the 3-day notice regulation or face stiff penalties.

ECG is expected to promptly comply with the PURC's directive to give consumers adequate time to make alternative arrangements during planned power outages.