Energy Commission endorses PURC’s position— On payment of accumulated bills

12/8/09
laed back page

THE Energy Commission (EC) has endorsed the directive issued by the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) to the general public and all consumers of electricity not to pay accumulated utility bills should service providers fail to bill them for a period of 12 months.
It said the PURC was justified in taking that decision by informing the public not to pay overdue bills. This is because subsection 20 (5) of the Electricity Supply and Distribution (Technical Operation) Rules 2005 (LI 1816) indicates that “a supplier must deliver a bill 12 times in a year at the address of the customer by hand, electronic mail or any other appropriate and convenient means”.
The Executive Secretary of the EC, Mr Alfred Ofosu Ahenkorah, told the Daily Graphic yesterday that “what the PURC is saying is absolutely right", adding that it was part of measures the PURC and the EC had put in place to ensure that service providers offered the best services to consumers.
He said part of the LI 1816 which the PURC quoted was just a small portion of the legislation on issues and delivery bills under electricity billing and, therefore, urged the utility providers, the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) and the Northern Electricity Department (NED) to sit up because Ghanaians expected maximum benefit from their services.
According to him, the two companies had taken Ghanaians for granted for far too long, and it was about time they adhered to regulations on standards and performance under the LI 1816.
He said the expectation of the government as regards adequate service delivery was to also ensure that consumers were offered the best services.
Quoting subsection 20(3) of LI 1816, he said a supplier who contravened rules (1), (2) and 10(c) "commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding 500 penalty units".
Subsection 20(8) of LI 1816 says “where a supplier fails to bill a customer for a period of 12 months, the supplier cannot recover the cost of that service unless the delay in the billing occurred without negligence on the part of the supplier or due to the customer’s action.”
Commenting on subsection 20(8), Mr Ahenkorah said the probability where the delay could be due to the customer’s action was very low and likely not to happen very often.
He said under the Energy Commission Law, Act 541, 1997, it was the function of the EC to promote and ensure uniformed rules of practice for the transmission of wholesale supply, distribution and sale of electricity and natural gas uniformly throughout the country.
Quoting sections of the Act 541, he said under section 2 (2f), it was the function of the commission to establish and enforce, in consultation with the PURC, standards of performance for public utility companies.
On the rules of practice for electricity and natural gas public utilities, he said the commission should by legislative instrument, prescribe technical and operational rules of practice for electricity and natural gas public utilities licensed under Act 541 and would apply and enforce the provisions uniformly throughout the country.
The executive secretary said based on those regulations, the EC, in 2005, passed the Electricity Supply and Distribution (Technical Operation) Rules 2005 (LI 1816).
He, therefore, urged ECG and the NED to offer periodical checks on regular and pre-paid metres in order to prevent loss of revenues as a result of faulty metres.