The Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) has defended electricity and water tariffs increment, stating that the adjustments are due to an outstanding debt of 976 million cedis carried over from the previous quarters of 2024.
The average end-user tariff for electricity has been increased by 14.75%, while water tariffs have gone up by 4.02% for all consumer categories.
In a statement, the Commission said the new tariffs are part of its quarterly review mechanism, guided by its rate-setting framework.
The review takes into account factors such as the cedi’s performance against the US dollar, inflation trends, the cost of fuel—particularly natural gas—and the electricity generation mix.
These variables, according to the PURC, are critical in ensuring utilities do not over-recover or under-recover revenue, which can negatively affect service delivery.
Speaking on Morning Starr with Naa Dedei Tettey, Dr. Eric Obutey, the Head of Research and Corporate Affairs at the Commission, stressed that the increase is not intended to burden Ghanaians.
Instead, he attributed part of the rise to an outstanding debt of GHS 976 million carried over from the last quarters of 2024.
According to Dr. Obutey, if the entire outstanding debt were to be recovered, the tariff increase would have been around 24%.
However, the PURC decided to recover only 50% of the debt, reducing the burden on consumers.
He also recalled that consumers have seen higher tariff hikes in previous years, including figures as high as 29.96% and 18.36%.
He said, “….It’s for the first two quarters, the first and second quarter of 2025. And mind you, we do have an outstanding debt of 976 million cedis carried from last quarters, 2024 quarters and we took 50 percent of that in addition to whatever it is that we have done for this period. So had it been that there was no arrears at all, the tariff would have been in the range of 6 percent. But because we do have arrears to clear, and 50 percent of that has been added to it, we shot the electricity tariffs to 14.75 percent. We have seen before, 29.96%, we have seen 18.36 percent.”
“So we have seen much higher figures than the 14.75 percent. If we had pushed through the entire 976 million cedis outstanding debt, we would have been seeing a tariff in the region of 24 percent on a minor adjustment, not a major tariff, just a minor adjustment. But because the commissioners thought it wise that, look, let’s reduce the burden on consumers and take on board only 50 percent of the outstanding debt, we have seen a reduction in the tariff to 14.75 percent. But we’ve seen much higher figures before.”
He emphasized that the PURC remains committed to balancing the interests of consumers with the need for efficient utility service delivery, and will continue to ensure that pricing decisions are transparent and guided by data and fairness.
