The Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) has announced a zero per cent adjustment in electricity and water tariffs for the fourth quarter of 2026, bringing relief to consumers ahead of the Christmas period.
The Commission said both electricity and water tariffs will remain unchanged, effective October 1 to December 31, 2026, meaning that consumers would continue to pay the same rates approved for the third quarter.
The decision was in the Commission’s 2026 Fourth Quarter Tariff Review Decision, released on Tuesday, which was conducted in line with its mandate to undertake quarterly reviews to track movements in key uncontrollable operational factors.
This marks a departure from the third quarter review, where the Commission increased electricity tariffs by 3.49 per cent across board, while water tariffs went up by 0.85 per cent.
“This means that consumers will continue to pay the amount that they were paying in the third quarter – there is no increment in both electricity and water tariffs for the fourth quarter of 2026,” Dr Eric Obutey, Director, Research and Corporate Affairs has confirmed.
He explained that in arriving at the decision, it considered four key variables; the Cedi-US Dollar exchange rate, domestic inflation rate, the price of natural gas, and the electricity generation mix between hydro and thermal sources.
It also applied a weighted average Cedi-to-US Dollar exchange rate of GHS 11.5646, a projected inflation rate, and a weighted average cost of Gas (WACOG), and a hydro-thermal mix largely dominated by thermal generation.
Dr Obutey said despite slight movements in some of the indicators, the overall impact did not warrant an upward adjustment, and in the interest of consumers and to maintain the financial viability of utility service providers, it decided to keep tariffs stable.
In that review, he cited a 0.2 per cent depreciation of the Cedi against the Dollar, using an exchange rate of GHS11.2228 to the dollar, an average inflation of 3.43 per cent, and a WACOG price of USD 7.9708 per MMBtu.
The hydro-thermal mix was projected at 20.90 per cent hydro and 79.10 per cent thermal.
Dr Obutey explained that the maintaining the tariffs for both electricity and water reflected improved macroeconomic stability and the Commission’s commitment to balancing the interests of consumers and utility service providers.
He lauded the utility players for their performance in reducing system losses and enhancing revenue collection.
Dr Obutey noted that while the Ghana Water Company Limited recorded a reduction in non-revenue water from over 50 to about 46-47 per cent, the Electricity Company of Ghana’ (ECG) total losses had reduced from over 30 to about 26-27 per cent.
On technical and commercial losses, he stated that PURC’s benchmark for ECG was 21 per cent total losses – 10 per cent technical and 11 per cent commercial, but ECG has reduced its technical losses to 9.8 per cent.
Dr Obutey said ECG’s revenue collection has increased also from less than GHS1 billion to about GHS 1.4 – 1.5b, though lower than its annual revenue requirement of about GHS2bn set by the utility sector regulator.
He acknowledged that utilities service providers were now aggressively pursuing revenue collection and investing in infrastructure to reduce losses, such as replacing old concrete and asbestos (AC) pipelines with HDPE pipelines and replacing transformers.
“This has reduced liquidity challenges and enabled them to purchase operational essentials like transformers, cables, and chemicals,” Dr Obutey said, indicating that the main challenge remained commercial losses caused by theft and illegal connections.
He advised consumers to avoid illegal connections, pay their bills, and practice demand-side management, including turning off TVs, phones, and high-consumption appliances like air conditioner and deep freezers when not in use to stay within their means.
Dr Obutey assured consumers that PURC would continue to monitor the operations of the Electricity Company of Ghana, Ghana Water Ltd, and other regulated utilities to ensure value for money and improved quality of service delivery.
