Chairman of Parliament’s Energy Committee, Emmanuel Bedzrah, has taken a hard stance against the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), vowing not to endorse any proposal the utility brings before his committee.
Speaking on Joy News’ PM Express on September 9, Mr. Bedzrah said:
“As the Chairman of the Energy Committee, I will not approve of anything that ECG will bring to us.”
His declaration comes in the wake of ECG’s controversial request to the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) for a 225% hike in its Distribution Service Charge—an increase the company insists is necessary to avert financial collapse and maintain reliable power supply.
But Bedzrah says both he and fellow MPs are deeply frustrated by ECG’s repeated tariff demands.
“On my committee’s WhatsApp platform, it was a bipartisan bashing of ECG. Nobody will accept this,” he stressed.
He recalled that even a recent 17% increase was met with anger in Parliament because ECG failed to consult lawmakers and key stakeholders.
“How can you increase the ECG tariff to 225%?” he asked.
Interestingly, Mr. Bedzrah admitted that in his previous role as Ranking Member for Works and Housing and Water Resources, he was more open to tariff reviews—at one point even supporting an increase of up to 300%. However, he says his perspective has changed after hearing from ECG, PURC, and other institutions in his current role.
Meanwhile, PURC continues stakeholder consultations on tariff requests from ECG and the Ghana Water Company Limited, the latter seeking a 280% increase due to pollution and the impact of illegal mining.
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