Bono East: Residents agitate over high electricity tariffs

Electricity consumers in the Ashanti and Bono East Regions are agitating over the cost of electricity bills charged by the Northern Electricity Distribution Company (NEDCO).

Residents of the communities of Akumadan, Tanoso, Kuntunso, and Tadieso are dissatisfied with the amount they pay as service fees for smart prepaid meters and find their billings to be excessive.

According to them, they do not get the exact amount paid whenever they recharge or buy power credit, even though it is on a pay-as-you-go basis. 

“This is something not on credit; the amount you can afford is what you patronise and that is what we do not understand. Something you buy and leave, then come back to buy again and are told you owe. This is not the first of its kind; it has happened more than four times. Is it only Tanoso or the whole Ghana?” an angry resident complained.

Others also complained that the power does not last as long as expected and called on the government to regulate those tariffs.

However, Bilenman Ntelenyi, the customer service officer of NEDCO in Techiman, explained that the billing is accurate and that there are no intentions of cheating customers.

“Once you have our meter at your premises, you are required to buy power every month. If you are unable to purchase power for three months and return the following month, the system will detect that you have not purchased power for the previous three months and you will be required to pay the service charge,” Ntelenyi said.

“The reason you need to pay for it is because, even though you didn’t buy power, the access, the conductors, and our equipment were being maintained. So, the service charge is used to support maintenance and also our operations.”

Two years ago, NEDCO began the installation of MBH smart prepaid meters in the North, including Techiman and its surroundings, to replace the old meters. But clients of the company in Techiman and Akumadan say the meters were brought in to shortchange them, claiming they cannot take it anymore.

Dauda Zul-Kiful and Gladys Mensah

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