Why the erratic power supply? ; Empathy is waning

Despite the displeasure with the constant power cuts we were experiencing during the latter part of last year, Ghanaians eventually resigned to their fate.  We were ready to go along with the schedules provided by the Electricity Company of Ghana.

Since then, businesses, large and small, as well as households, have had to make extremely difficult and costly adjustment to their business schedules and lives in order to contain the irritating load-shedding exercise, popularly referred to as “Dumsor”.  

Now, our patience and empathy have grown thin.  The name of the game is no longer fairness.  ECG is swift to cut power, sometimes an hour or two before the scheduled time, yet it drags its feet when the scheduled time comes for them to connect us back.  

The disruptive nature and distraughtness caused consumers by the erratic nature of the power outages lately are simply too much.  It is grossly unfair to consumers who are counting their losses by the day. 

Having given us some respite for the Christmas, since the beginning of the year, our electricity distributor has put us under undue hardships as “dumsor” has gone haywire.  Food is getting rotten in fridges faster than anticipated and the quality of life is diminishing.  

Now, the arrangement is no longer 24 hours of power and 12 hours without power.  In our area, for example, we sometimes get power for two hours; sometimes six hours and then we are off for 48, 34 or when we are lucky, 16 hours.  The most distressing bit is that water also stops flowing on some days when one is dealing with the stresses of erratic power.

Our rights as consumers are being flouted.  Some of us pay for our electricity consumption upfront under the pre-paid system but get the shabbiest services in return.  Why should some go for two to three days without power when the assurance in this sacrificial period was for 12 hours?  We do certainly deserve to know what has changed and for how long we need to endure the discomfort. 

Recently in the media, the new Power Minister repeated the old threat we seem to have heard from time immemorial.  He referred to defaulters and illegal connections and warned those staff members of ECG who aided people to cheat the system by connecting electricity illegally to desist from the act.  He also told us that a task force had been set up to collect millions of cedis owed the ECG by consumers, including government establishments.  

That the ECG is cash-strapped and in need of money to upgrade and run efficiently is no news.  They have told us many times about their financial difficulties and at a point, the prepaid system was introduced.  

The  Public Utility Regulatory  Commission (PURC) also reminds us every now and then that to enjoy better and efficient services from the ECG, consumers should pay a ‘little” more.  We oblige though we do not see any difference.

What is yet to become news, however, is the naming and shaming of the establishments that owe millions of cedis and are contributing to the deteriorating cash position of the ECG.  Question is, do these establishments not make provisions for electricity in their annual budgets?  

Did we not hear some time ago that all government establishments were to be provided with prepaid meters and operate on pay-as-you go basis?  

The ECG knows who these debtors are so why would they disconnect power from the premises of individual defaulters and leave these establishments to continue to pile up their debts?

Some of the factors that led to the collapse of Ghana Airways, including the use of the carrier by public officials as if the airline was an extension of their offices, are still fresh in our minds.   The ECG should be allowed to run as a full commercial entity and not as an extension of officialdom.

As for illegal connections, we seem to have been too accommodative with those acts of sabotage for far too long.  It is a management problem which should be fixed internally, especially when we keep hearing that insiders are aiding in the perpetration of the crime.  After all these years of talk about illegal connections, examples should have by now been made of the saboteurs through legal means.

Whatever our sins, electricity consumers are getting tired of the unfairness in the current load-shedding exercise.  Somebody should tell us what the new schedule is and give us some indication as to when the problem will end.  The disruption is a bit too much. 

• vickywirekoandoh@yahoo.com