Avoiding Dumsor, Dumsor - Residents Use New Method To Steal Power

As the nation continues to battle the power crisis which has culminated into the on-going nationwide biting load shedding exercise, residents in many densely populated communities have devised a way of escaping the �dumsor� phenomenon. Months of investigation by The aL-hAJJ has uncovered how some residents of some communities in the country have managed to be using their �two phase� lines to dodge the Electricity Company of Ghana�s announced load shedding timetable. The modus operandi of these dubious and smart power �stealers� is that on the day their area is due for load shedding, they quickly switch to another line which is drawn from a neighboring area not under load management. In effect, these people, who usually live in compound houses with large families or tenants, do not get to experience the load shedding as envisaged by the power distributors. However, what The aL-hAJJ has not been able to established is whether the second line or phase drawn from other nearby suburbs goes through the meter or are illegally connected. Among areas engaged in this practice are Chokor, James Town, Ashiaman, Odokor, Nima, Mamobi, New Town, Sabon Zongo, Korlegonno, Russia, Sukura, Abeka, Lapaz and other densely populated areas in the capital city. This paper uncovered that in instances where Area �A� is under load management and Area �B� is not, residents on 2 lines in Area �A� switch to the other phase of their meter which is drawn from Area �B� and vice versa. The Electricity Company of Ghana recently announced a new load shedding program to cater for the shortfalls occasioned by low power generation. Under the new arrangement, the ECG said it will shut down power supply to specific areas for 12 hours after a 24 hour supply. The ECG has blamed the worsening power crisis on a drop in the water level at the Akosombo generation plant, unreliable gas supply to thermal plants from the West African Gas Pipeline Company and scheduled maintenance. But the current practice by some residents in the capital city, The aL-hAJJ has gathered is defeating the planned rationing of power by the Volta River Authority, the Ghana Grid Company Limited and ECG.