The Ghana Grid Company Limited (GRIDCo) on Friday sent a clear message to some institutions to clear their debt or risk disconnection of power to them.
The power distribution company says that, VALCO, Electricity Company of Ghana, (ECG), Northern Electricity Distribution Company (NEDCo) together owe millions of cedis and threatened to disconnect power to them by the end of the year.
“On exactly December 30, 2019, at 11:00am, we are going to disconnect them and I believe this is going to push them to do something about their indebtedness,” Mr Jonathan Amoako-Baah, chief Executive officer said at the company’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Accra.
According to him, the action had become necessary because it could no longer bear the brunt of debts the companies were owing GRIDCo.
The operations of the company, he said, had been greatly affected by the financial situation it experienced in 2018, as a result of the debts and reduction in tariff for transmission services.
He said there was a 50 per cent reduction in approved tariff in the year under review, which had a toll on Transmission Service Change (TSC) a major determinant of its financial performance.
The Ghanaian Times sympathises with GRIDCo for the hydra headed challenges confronting the nation’s main power distribution company.
Apart from the huge debt owed it by the companies, GRIDCo is also faced with reduction in transmission service charge, which according to the company is affecting its operations.
“It is, therefore, imperative that there be an appropriate injection of capital in the company in order to maintain high operational standards” Mr Amoako Baah said.
There is no doubt that GRIDCo is going through very difficult times and needed all the support and cooperation from all stakeholders to survive.
Indeed, no one can underestimate the importance and the critical role that GRIDCo is playing in national development.
It is, therefore, a matter of concern that this critical state institution would be allowed to distribute power without receiving payment for it. How do we expect the institution to operate and fulfil its mandate?
It is unacceptable that the companies named above collected power from GRIDCo, distributed it and collected tariff but unable to pay for power it.
The amount of money owed GRIDCo by these companies is huge and must be paid to save it from financial difficulties.
We appeal to the government to intervene in the matter with the view to finding a lasting solution to the problem.
GRIDCo must be saved now!
