The Minority in Parliament has vowed to summon the management of the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) to justify the recently announced 2.45 percent increase in electricity tariffs, which is set to take effect on July 1, 2025.
Addressing the media, Ranking Member on Parliament’s Energy Committee, George Kwame Aboagye, criticized the tariff adjustment, arguing that the key economic indicators used to determine utility pricing have shown stability or improvement in recent months.
“Gas prices have not increased. The exchange rate is going down, and inflation is also on a declining trend,” Mr. Aboagye stated. “These are the main factors used in tariff reviews. So why are electricity prices going up?”
Citing the cedi’s performance, he added: “The highest exchange rate this year was about 15.5 to the dollar. Currently, it is around 10.30. Inflation has also dropped from 22.4 percent in March to an estimated 16 percent in June. With all these positive indicators, we should be seeing a reduction in tariffs, not an increase.”
He insisted the PURC must provide a detailed explanation for the upward adjustment and revealed that he would be requesting the Energy Committee Chair to summon the Commission for a formal hearing.
“We cannot accept an unexplained increase. Ghanaians deserve to know what is driving this decision, especially when the data suggests we should be getting some relief instead.”
Mr. Aboagye also compared Ghana’s electricity pricing with other countries in the region, claiming that Ghana’s lifeline and standard residential tariffs are already at par with countries like Côte d’Ivoire.
“In dollar terms, a lifeline consumer in Ghana pays about $0.05 per kilowatt-hour, while standard residential consumers pay between $0.12 and $0.16. This is similar to Côte d’Ivoire. So why increase tariffs now?” he questioned.
The PURC, in a statement issued on June 25, 2025, announced the 2.45% increment across all consumer categories, effective July 1. The Commission explained that the adjustment is part of its Quarterly Tariff Review Mechanism, which considers key economic indicators such as the cedi-to-dollar exchange rate, inflation, fuel costs—particularly natural gas—and the electricity generation mix.
The PURC stated that the periodic reviews are essential to maintaining the real value of tariffs and ensuring the financial viability of utility service providers.
While electricity tariffs will go up in the third quarter, the PURC confirmed that water tariffs will remain unchanged for the same period.