The Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana National Gas Company, Judith Adjobah Blay, is advocating a positive tariff adjustment to sustain operations and improve efficiency at the Gas Processing Plant (GPP) in Atuabo.
Briefing members of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Energy during a visit to the facility, the CEO disclosed that although the company requested a 2.2% increase in the Weighted Average Cost of Gas (WACOG), only 1.2% was approved. She indicated that the shortfall is already impacting revenue and could affect plant operations if not addressed.
She stressed that “It’s very necessary that we at Ghana Gas are able to go to the Public Utilities and Regulatory Commission-PURC to convince them of certain expenditure and investments that we are doing that warrants a little increase, especially in our transmission.”
According to her, while marginal tariff adjustments may slightly increase the cost of power, inadequate funding for maintenance and operations could have more severe long-term consequences for the energy sector.
“A little adjustment in the tariff, would mean a little increment in the power. But the other side of it is that if you don’t have money at Ghana Gas ,enough to really operate the plant and maintain it then, the consequences are even more dire than a little increase in tariffs “, she explained .
Chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Energy and MP for Ho West, Emmanuel Kwasi Bedzrah, commended Ghana Gas for its operational performance and the professionalism of its staff.
He said “I want to use this medium to commend Ghana gas, even though there was a little shut down. But from what we heard and what they told us, it shows clearly that they are on top of their work”.
He noted that the Committee’s visit was to gain firsthand insight into gas processing and production activities, adding that members were impressed with what they observed.
He further assured management and staff of the Committee’s continued support.
“We will also call PURC to let us know exactly, because PURC do not just come up tariffs. There are some things , some factors that goes into their computations. We’ll find out from them, one of them has to do with the foreign exchange, differentials. I’m hopeful that all can resolve this issue” he added .
Meanwhile, the Deputy Ranking Member of the Committee and MP for Afigya Kwabre North, Collins Adomako-Mensah, also praised the staff of Ghana Gas. He noted that the visit had helped allay concerns following recent shutdown challenges at the plant.
Source: www.kumasimail.com
