Parliament negotiates with ECG to escape disconnection over GH¢13m electricity bill

Discussions are currently underway between the Parliament of Ghana and officials from the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) as it seeks to avoid disconnection over some GH¢13 million owed ECG.

The outcome of this discussion will determine whether the House stays connected to the national grid or is plunged into darkness.

A disconnection team is at the premises as the negotiations started on March 20.

This forms part of the company’s bid to retrieve about GH¢5.7 billion in unpaid bills across the country.

Parliament initially advanced talks about paying GH¢1 million upfront out of its GH¢13 million debt to keep the lights on for now.

Reports indicate that Parliament is offering some GH¢1 million upfront to prevent the disconnection, but it is up to the ECG to consider or otherwise.

Parliament subsequently offered to pay GH¢8.5 million out of the total amount and later came out with a payment plan to pay the rest.

The ECG, on March 14, disconnected the power supply to the Energy Ministry, which plunged the entire ministry into darkness for almost half a day.

According to sources, power was restored to the ministry after full debt payment.

From Monday, March 20, the power distributor is embarking on a massive disconnection exercise to mobilise revenue.

All ECG staff, from top management to junior officers, will be involved in the exercise to retrieve all the monies owed to them.

The Managing Director of ECG, Samuel Dubik Mahama, in an interview on Joy News monitored by the Ghana Report, said the company is owed over GH¢5 billion from September 2022 to February 2023.

He added that the agencies refusing to settle their bill immediately would face the same consequence as the Energy Ministry.