Report illegal power, water connection – PURC advises tertiary students

The Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) has requested assistance from students enrolled in post-secondary schools in reporting unauthorized water and power connections.

Dr. Ishmael Ackah, the PURC’s executive secretary, also urged students to pay their utility bills on time.

On August 29, 2023, Dr. Ackah spoke to students at Koforidua Technical University (KTU) on the necessity of paying electric charges and the importance of aiding in the reporting of unauthorized connections.

He reminded them that any whistleblower may get a reward of 6% of the money obtained through illicit ties.

According to Dr. Ackah, utility firms produce the necessary cash via the payment of bills in order to better serve the people.

“In the Eastern Region alone water consumers owed about GH¢ 46 million”, Dr Ackah said.

Alhaji Jabaru Abukari, the Eastern Regional Operations and Consumer Services Director of the PURC, invited utility customers to bring any issues they had with their landlords to the PURC for resolution.

Around 90% of the students at Koforidua Technical University (KTU), Professor David Kofi Essumang, the university’s vice chancellor, said he was pleased with the initiative and that landlords and students had been anxious about students’ ability to pay their rent and utilities.

“We in KTU use more electricity in training our students and the way PURC is considering industries, we are also appealing to them to also consider the tertiary institution to help reduce utility bills since the universities are also training the human resource of the country”, he said.

Prof. Essumang praised the PURC for teaching their students how to utilize the PURC Electricity Consumption Estimator (PECE) program to calculate the energy used and the associated costs.

The purpose of PURC’s visit to the university was to promote, inform, and enforce the payment of utility bills while also urging the students’ parents to do the same.

The event, which included university instructors and administrators, gave students the chance to pose essential queries regarding the two utility services for which they already had the necessary answers, helping them to comprehend the problems expressed.