The Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) has offered the clearest technical explanation yet for why thousands of Ghanaian consumers have been watching their prepaid electricity units drain faster than expected since the January 2026 tariff adjustment.
Dr. Shafic Suleman, Executive Secretary of the PURC, identified three distinct technical causes during an interview on TV3’s Hot Issues on Sunday, March 1, ranging from meter connectivity failures to aging hardware that is unable to process the new tariff parameters introduced under the Multi-Year Tariff Order (MYTO).
The first cause involves meters in areas with poor internet connectivity. Dr. Suleman explained that each prepaid meter is designed to maintain a live communication link with ECG’s central system through an embedded SIM card. “Every meter is supposed to be responding to ECG’s system and every meter is supposed to have a SIM card more or less that is supposed to serve as the communication channel between ECG and the customer,” he said.
Where that connection has been absent, ECG has been unable to push the revised tariff to the affected meters remotely. Once those meters eventually reconnect to the network, they reboot and apply the accumulated tariff update at once, creating the sudden impression that units are running out at an accelerated rate.
The second cause involves meters that are simply too old to handle the current tariff structure. Dr. Suleman revealed that some meters in circulation have not been updated since the last tariff adjustment in 2022. “One of the problems they identified with the old meters is that the old meters are unable to actually respond to new tariff adjustments,” he said. ECG has begun replacing these units, and he confirmed that newly installed meters are now correctly reflecting all accumulated tariff adjustments, which is why consumers receiving replacements are noticing higher consumption readings from the outset.
A third cause, identified separately by ECG, is behavioural. ECG’s management has pointed to the unusually hot weather in recent months and the growing number of electrical appliances in Ghanaian homes as factors driving genuine increases in consumption that consumers may be misreading as meter errors. ECG has maintained that it has not implemented any tariff settings beyond what the PURC formally approved.
Dr. Suleman was firm that consumers will not be left to absorb the cost of any metering errors that cannot be attributed to legitimate consumption. “If you have a meter that is reading beyond what the tariff is supposed to have required, it means that’s a problem,” he said. “The PURC will take it up with ECG and ensure that if it is being ascertained and confirmed, you are refunded for any extra billing you have been billed.”
He confirmed that ECG is expected to release a detailed public statement on Monday, March 2, addressing the complaints and outlining specific corrective steps. The PURC, he added, is monitoring the situation closely and will escalate action if ECG fails to meet its regulatory obligations to consumers.
The meter controversy has been building since ECG began installing smart prepaid meters, with complaints first emerging in November 2024. The cycle of consumer outcry followed by audit announcement followed by unresolved complaints has now repeated itself at least twice within fourteen months, raising questions about whether the current round of investigations will produce lasting resolution. A quarterly tariff review is also due before the end of March 2026, adding further pressure on both the regulator and the utility.
