Ghana is returning to dumsor – Tarzan warns

Dr Charles Wereko-Brobby, a leading member of the governing NPP, has hinted that the country will be returning to dumsor – an era of scheduled power outages – if some solutions are not offered to the increasing demand for electricity.

Speaking to Joy News on Tuesday, May 10, Tarzan as he is known popularly said, some of the power problems the country is experiencing are the beginnings of dumsor.

There are fears of a possible return to dumsor following the demand by the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) for a 148% increase in electricity tariff.

He explained that technically “if capacity is inadequate, you have to generate and invest in more capacity. Power capacity does not take a day, so you have to plan.

“So, I hope that those in power now are actually looking at things and planning for the new demand.”

He continued: “if you don’t plan for the new demand, you will find yourself in a situation where dumsor will return in a very big way.

“In fact, some of the problems we are having now, people want to ascribe it to technical problems but they are the beginnings of dumsor because of the failure of the available capacity to meet the demand.”

Tarzan noted that it is laughable for those handling the energy situation in the country to claim that some technical work within the power sector needed to be done in a rainy season.

“If somebody says he is going to change the big power lines in the middle of the rainy season, you will laugh,” he told the Joy News reporter.

“Some of the excuses are not tenable. People have sat down doing nothing and sadly, available capacity has caught up with demand, the quicker we do something about it, the better,” Dr Charles Wereko-Brobby stressed.

A proposal submitted to the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC), by the ECG indicates a 148% adjustment to cover the period 2019 and 2022.

The ECG has subsequently proposed an average increase of 7.6% in tariff over the next four years to cover Distribution Service Charges (DSC).

The power distribution company attributed the high increase in the Distribution Service Charges to the gap that has developed over the years between the actual cost recovery tariff and the PURC approved tariffs as well as the cost of completed projects.

It also mentioned the continual application of the prevailing tariff (which was 14% lower) beyond the stipulated regulatory period and the effect of macroeconomic factors such as inflation and exchange rate fluctuation.