Mr. John Jinapor, Deputy Minister of Power, has said that despite the power generation challenges facing the country, there is the need to streamline the distribution sector to ensure equity and fairness.
He said the situation in which consumers tapped electricity illegally to the extent that others had to pay for their misdeeds, should stop.
The deputy minister said this when he paid a working visit to Teshie, where the pilot Project of Distribution System Losses, Reduction and Network Improvement was rolled out about four years ago.
The project involves putting household meters outside the premises on electric poles to avoid any tampering on its readings.
It works by ensuring that the amount paid at the vending office automatically records on an individuals meter, while the owners are provided with an interface appliances to monitor their spending on electricity units.
Mr Jinapor said the project was long overdue since it had helped the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) to recover many losses through illegal connections.
He said it had become imperative for ECG to streamline distribution of electricity in order to maximise revenue, since a lot of investments were needed for infrastructural development.
“Government intends to work with all stakeholders to address the generation gap; however, the loss in the distribution needs to be addressed urgently,” he said.
Mr Jinapor said it was unfortunate that when the project was being introduced in other areas, it generated heated debate which was of no essence.
He said since the project had witnessed some amount of success in the areas where it was introduced, it behoved everybody to embrace it to ensure that electricity was distributed equitably and fairly.
“By this project, we want to catch every electricity user in the system to ensure that everybody pays the right amount at the right time,” he said.
Nana Kobina Atta-Forson, Director of Customer Service at ECG, said since the introduction of the project, apart from sanity prevailing in the distribution of electricity, it had also ensured improvement in the distribution, as well as stability in the load.
He said about 77 transformers were added to bring to 147, the number serving the area, and that had ensured stability in operations.
Nana Atta-Forson said the project was being rolled out at Bortianor and other areas where it had received the necessary support.
He said it was the vision of ECG to ensure that within the shortest possible time, the project covered the entire nation to bring sanity in the distribution sector.
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