No increment in water, light bills 2Qtr 2011- PURC

The Public Utility and Regulatory Commission has announced that there would be no increment in utility tariffs for the second quarter of 2011. 

According to the PURC, the decision was taken after hours of deliberation with the utility providers for which there were disagreements since the providers would have preferred a marginal increment. 

Vice Chairman of the Technical Committee of the PURC, Samuel Sarpong indicated that “as part of the second quarter of 2011 review of tariffs under the Automatic Adjustment Formula (AAF), we recognized that there have been some increases in some of the key variables which impact on the operations of the utility service providers, which would under normal circumstances result in an increase in tariffs.

“However, the commission's recent monitoring, as well as representations made by various consumer groups show increasing deterioration in the quality of service provided by the utility companies and widespread consumer dissatisfaction. 

"In the light of the above, the commission has decided to withhold any tariff increases in the second quarter of 2011”.

The PURC has indicated that it would put some measures in place to ensure that services are improved as soon as possible. 

Some of these measures according to Mr. Sarpong include holding a dialogue with all stakeholders including the utility companies, to establish the causes for recent serious lapses in the quality of service from the utility companies.

"We would also investigate the extent to which any possible efficiency savings by the utility companies could mitigate the need for increases in tariffs particularly in the third quarter of 2011”.

The PURC said findings from the above measures would be factored into the Commission's third quarter 2011 tariff review.

It would be recalled that in February 2011, the Public Utility Regulatory Commission announced the implementation of its Automatic Adjustment Formula, which sought to track and incorporate movements in key variables which have an impact on the tariffs but which lie outside the control of the utility companies.

BY: Citifmonline.com