Wiring regulation for electrical contractors developed
The Energy Commission (EC) has developed a legislation to regulate electric wiring in the country.
The legislation would address who qualifies to wire a building, what type of materials or cables are appropriate for wiring and how wiring should be done according to standards.
Mr Solomon Sarpong, Senior Technical Production Officer of the EC said this at the Electricity Stakeholders and Consumers Parliament, a platform where consumers were offered an opportunity to speak about their complaints and expectations of the utilities and the regulatory bodies in Accra on Monday.
The event organised by the EC in collaboration with the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission brought together stakeholders including the VRA, GRIDCO and ECG.
In attendance were the Electrical Students Association of Accra Polytechnic, students of Accra Technical Training College, Electrical Contractors Association and the general public.
Some of the issues raised included, selling of electricity meters to new service users, illegal connections, monopoly of ECG, issuance of pre-paid meters and its importance and the poor performance of ECG.
Mr Sarpong said the Commission had enacted regulations to direct the operation of the power sector including: Legislative Instrument (LI) (1816) for electricity supply and distribution (Technical and Operation) rules, 2005, LI (1935) for Electricity and Supply (Standards of Performance Regulation 2008 and LI. 1937 for Electricity Regulation, 2008).
He said consumers required electricity supply to be reliable, quality, safe and affordable, hence the stakeholders and consumers Parliament to address some of the challenges.
Mr Sarpong said the Commission had in addition, established good standards of performance for service providers engaged in the supply, transmission and distribution of electricity.
He said the Commission had met electricity contractors in the Greater Accra, Ashanti and Western Regions to provide them with information on the regulation concerning electrical wiring.
Mr Sarpong announced that the Commission would launch an SMS short code where consumers could send their messages and report incidents of outages in their areas and when power was restored for the commission to monitor the performance of the ECG.
Alhaji Usaman Seidu, Acting Director of Customer Service of ECG, denied allegations that the ECG was selling electricity meters to new service users.
He explained that revenue from consumers were service charges for new service meters and urged consumers to contact the appropriate channel for their service.
Alhaji Seidu said the process in acquisition included written application to the manager, estimation done on the building, installation followed and finally the meter provided to the consumer.
He said management had developed new service software to monitor the location, applicant’s details and the officer in-charge of the application to address the middlemen syndrome.
Alhaji Seidu said management had taken measures to address the challenges of illegal connection, adding that they were recruiting more personnel to properly monitor the system.
“We have introduced sub-stations to effectively provide electricity supply to the public, “he added.
Mr Eric Asare, representative from GRIDCO, said management was revamping their capacity by putting some projects in place to ensure provision of better service.
He urged consumers to patronise the installation of Automatic Capacity Banks (ACB) to reduce high voltage rate in their homes.
The ACB is a device which ensures that only the required amount of electricity needed to run motors and other high energy consuming machines is loaded.
Source: GNA