The Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) has rebutted the Electricity Company of Ghana's (ECG) claim regarding the cause of recent power outages, stating that attributing the outages to overloaded transformers is "not factually accurate." In a statement released on Monday, April 15, 2024, the Commission disclosed that their analysis of data submitted by the ECG revealed discrepancies in the reported causes of the outages.

According to the PURC, out of 715 transformer details analyzed, only a small fraction were loaded less than 70%, while the majority were loaded between 70-100%, with some exceeding 100%. Contrary to the ECG's assertion, the Commission found that the majority of outages between 7 pm and 11 pm during the specified period were not due to overloaded transformers, but rather attributed them to load management operations by GRIDCo and faults unrelated to transformer overloading.

As investigations into the root cause of the power outages continue, the PURC emphasized that the ECG's claim regarding transformer overload was unfounded. Consequently, the Commission resolved to impose a fine of GHC5.8 million on the Board of Directors of the ECG for failing to accurately inform the public about the nature of the outages.

This development comes amidst escalating tensions between the ECG and regulatory bodies, with the PURC warning of impending sanctions against the power distribution company for non-compliance with directives to release a load-shedding timetable. With Ghana grappling with erratic power supply, locally referred to as 'Dumsor', the situation underscores the complexity of managing the nation's energy infrastructure, with both regulatory oversight and public accountability in focus.

Source: ghanaweb.com