PURC will sanction the PDS for power outages

Company News of Thursday, March 14, 2019

Source: Myjoyonline.com

2019-03-14

The Public Utilities and Regulatory Commission (PURC) has announced that it will sanction energy distribution services in Ghana if it believes that the recent power outages violate its service delivery guidelines.

Mami Dufie Ofori, Executive Secretary, said that the Commission is following the situation closely and that it will initiate investigations into breakdowns to determine the actual causes and would not hesitate to apply the required sanctions, if any.

The service provider, she added, will be forced to compensate customers if investigations reveal that they deserve to be blamed.

"The appropriate sanctions or penalties we have in our system will be imposed if we find them guilty or in violation of the regulations," Ofori told Joy News Precious Semevor at the launch of a PURC office serving Bono. , Bono East and Ahafo Region.

Some parts of the country have experienced in recent years power outages lasting nine to twelve hours over a period of time.

The breakdowns occurred in many parts of the capital, Accra, Cape Coast, Sekondi-Takoradi, Kumasi, Volta Region and parts of the Northern Region.

Between Tuesday and Wednesday, PDS customers complained of blackouts lasting from nine to twelve hours during specific periods.

The outages occur just weeks after the Ghana Electricity Company (ECG) transferred the company's operations to PDS. The acquisition took place in February 2019 and PDS started operations on March 1st.

PDS should reverse ECG activities to make it profitable. In addition, the new management should improve access to electricity while reducing waste in the system in order to block any leaks that drain the ECG's financial data.

Explaining the situation in Accra, PDS in a statement, said the power outage was a result of technical problems. The company has promised to meet the challenges with immediate effect.

"Power Distribution Services Ghana (PDS) would like to inform the general public, especially our valued customers, that due to upstream technical difficulties, the supply of electricity to our Mallam and Graphic Road bulk supply points. has been reduced.

"This caused a blackout in the western and central parts of Accra. As soon as the situation is corrected, the power supply will be restored for the customers concerned. The inconvenience is really regretted, "the statement added.

In Northern Ghana, the Northern Electricity Distribution Company (NEDCO) attributed this situation to a "system failure".

But Ghanaians are nervous. They fear that the government will lose the fight to ensure that the country does not return to the "dumsor" era.

But the PURC says that he will ensure that customers do not lose in the end he believes that breakdowns could have been avoided.

The Executive Secretary of the Commission stated that the PDS would be evaluated based on its benchmarks and performance and that a failure of these would result in a sanction.

Citing the successes she has experienced in enforcing the Commission's enforcement procedures, Ms Ofori badured that the PDS would not be left without penalty if it was supposed to be.

"GRIDCO, who are the legitimate people to deal with this problem, as well as PDS, have come forward to point out … and it is our responsibility as the regulator to investigate and find out if it is a problem. is true or not, and take the measures that impose. we do.

"It happened two or three days ago and our investigations will certainly begin," she added.

For more news, go to myjoyonline.com

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