If the Convention People’s Party (CPP) wins this year’s presidential and parliamentary polls to form the next government, there is going to be the formation of an electricity distribution policy in order to address some of the anomalies in the power sector, Mr Ivor Greenstreet, flagbearer of the party has revealed.
According to him, when there is equity in the distribution of electricity, it would ensure that domestic consumers and industries pay the right tariffs for electricity.
Taking his turn at the Institute of Economic Affairs’ Evening Encounter at the Alisa Hotel in Accra on Tuesday June 28, Mr Greenstreet said: “Efficient electricity generation is key not only in terms of ensuring that the consumer gets a good service…and so the first thing we will do…in the short term is to deal with the distribution of electricity.”
He continued: “I believe about 23 per cent of losses take place while electricity is being distributed. I believe if we are able to solve that area of 23 per cent and we are able to aggregate all of that together, it should lead to the reduction in tariffs”.
However, “I think we also have to look at the effects that these high tariffs are having on different sectors of the economy because what effect it’s having on industry is different from the effects that it might be having on a household. …I think, in view of the fact that we may be talking about job creation and economy, we have to as much as we can try and also reduce the burden on industry and business for them to be able to lower the cost and produce more, employ more, and pay more taxes to government”.
“So, I think what we will consider is a distribution policy whereby electricity that is generated by those areas where it is cheaper, we could direct that to industry and perhaps the expensive ones elsewhere. So, we could direct energy from Akosombo or from Kpong or from Bui to industry while we look at how the other areas of energy can be generated for a different sector and to also, perhaps, consider further by assisting businesses even though that would have some further implications on the tariffs that the ordinary Ghanaian will be paying,” Mr Greenstreet said.
“…The reason we will want industry to have lower cost is that if they don’t, they push those additional costs onto the consumer and we end up paying higher prices through something the economist call cost push inflation,” he added.
Source: Ghana/ClassFMonline.com/91.3FM
