PDS recoups over GH¢224,000 from ‘power thieves’ in Volta, Oti regions

The Volta Regional office of the Power Distribution Services (PDS) Ghana has from October 2018 to April 2019, recouped GH¢224,321.00 from customers who illegally used power in the Volta and Oti Regions.

The PDS surcharged 106 residential and non- residential customers, who deprived the company of it’s needed revenue through illegal power connections.

The total amount of GH¢224,321.00 represents the cost of 0.216 Gigawatts hour (GWh) of power stolen by the 106 customers.

Bemoaning the impact of illegal connections by some customers on the financial strength of the company, Ing. Delali Oklu, General Manager of PDS Volta and Oti Regions, said: “the company is working seriously to curb the menace of power theft by some recalcitrant customers, which deprives the company of revenue”.

“The day and night monitoring of electricity connections of customers and the integrity of their meters by the Revenue Protection Division of the company will be intensified to achieve zero percent power theft in the region,” Ing Oklu added.

Ing. William Addy, Revenue Protection Manager of PDS Volta and Oti Regions, disclosed that some of the illegalities the customers engaged in included: meter bypasses, unauthorized and direct connections and meter tampering in areas within the 11 operational districts of the PDS in the regions.

Ing. Addy explained that meter bypass as “when a customer connects his equipment directly to our service poles instead of through the meter”.

He warned the public to desist from such illegal acts as they are very dangerous and can cause fire outbreaks and the loss of life and property.

Ing. Addy also noted that, the company has introduced measures like the installation of energy audit meters to help curb power theft in the region.

“We have installed energy audit meters on our transformers to help us ascertain whether the amount paid by customers on a transformer matches their consumption or not”.

He urged the public to pay their bills promptly and desist from illegal connections and report people who engage in such acts and indicated that there is a financial reward for doing so.

Mr. Addy called for the amendment of the Legislative Instrument (LI) 1651 to include serious punishments for customers who fail to pay their bills and engage in illegal connections.

The 11 operational districts of the PDS in the Volta and Oti Regions are: Ho, Kpeve, Hohoe, Kpando, Akatsi, Sogakope, Denu, Keta, Nkwanta, Jasikan and Dambai.