The Member of Parliament (MP) for the Yapei-Kusawgu constituency and member of the Mines and Energy Committee of Parliament, John Abdulai Jinapor, has stated that the erratic power supply (known in local parlance as Dumsor) is due to the government’s inability to purchase enough gas to power the thermal plants.
The former deputy minister of energy, John Jinapor, said the current Dumsor is purely a financial issue. He alleged that the government needs about US$50 million to defray old debts and to purchase more gas. “It is a financial problem if they have the money today and they buy fuel it will be over, the thermal plants are available, Hydro is performing at full capacity, all they need is to get fuel for the thermal plants.
“They’ve asked about 50 million dollars to buy fuel, [but] the Ministry of Finance hasn’t been able to get them the money,” he stated. The ranking member also shared the views of the Public Utility Workers Union (PUWU), indicating that the onus lies on GRIDCo to inform the distributor, ECG, about the quantum of power available for the bulk supply points.
“Yes, that is true. GRIDCo has to inform ECG that we don’t have enough power, so this evening we can’t give you enough power, then GRIDCo will tell ECG that this evening we are taking the Mallam bulk supply point off so that ECG informs its customers,” said Jinapor, adding, “I was surprised the MD [of ECG] tried to take the fall by saying that some [630] transformers are loaded.”
He added, “That is not the reason why we are facing power outages. The reason is that we don’t have enough generation. So if there is no generation, GRIDCo cannot supply and if GRIDCo cannot supply, it has to take a bulk supply point off.”
“That is the truth, this narrative and the fabricated stories of a so-called transformer overload is a huge lie,” he told Alfred Ocansey on 3FM’s news analysis programme, Hot Edition, on Thursday. Meanwhile, a leading member of the governing New Patriotic Party, Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, finds it difficult to come to terms with the possible cause of the power outages. In a Facebook post on Thursday, March 28, Mr. Otchere-Darko cannot fathom why the nation had a stable electricity supply even at the peak of the economic crisis two years ago and is experiencing outages now that a general election is looming.
