‘Metering system at Bread and Wine normal’

An audit of the metering system at the Italian restaurant Bread and Wine at Osu in Accra, has revealed that there are no abnormalities with the system.

The joint audit by the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) and the Energy Commission (EC) established that power consumption at the restaurant corresponded with billing from the ECG.

There was also no indication of discrepancies in the restaurant’s meter which could have showed that the ECG’s tariff analysis was wrong.

Restaurant consumption is high

Briefing the media after a visit to the restaurant yesterday, the Deputy Minister of Power, Mr John Jinapor, said a mobile check meter test was run continuously for two weeks.

In addition, he said, the audit revealed that the restaurant’s electricity consumption was very high because it had a bakery facility, a swimming pool, among other high-consuming appliances.

On how best to efficiently use electricity, Mr Jinapor stated that as part of the report, the ECG and the EC would make recommendations to the management of the restaurant.

The deputy minister further advised the public to use energy-efficient appliances which had EC labels, adding that the EC should also intensify public education on energy conservation.

Although the owner of the restaurant had travelled at the time of the visit, an official said a formal report from the ministry would determine the next line of action.

“We are yet to receive the report formally, so a decision will be taken after that,” the official said.

Background

Owners of the restaurant had threatened to close it down by the end of this month over what they described as ‘outrageous’ electricity bills.

According to them, their charges could not reflect their consumption, but officials of the ECG, in their response to that concern, said the owners could leave the country if they could not operate.

The restaurant management said they could not continue to pay more than GH¢30,000 electricity bills monthly, while they ran the business at a loss.

They claimed that their bills shot up from GH¢6,000 in 2014 to about GH¢30,000 since the meter was changed to an automatic metering system by the ECG.

Following the issues, Mr Jinapor visited the restaurant last month, after which he directed the ECG and the EC to conduct an audit into the claims.