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Consumers of electricity in the Hohoe Municipality of the Volta Region have expressed their dissatisfaction over what they call ‘high electricity bills’ ever since the prepaid meters were introduced in the area.

According to them, ever since they began using prepaid meters some eight years ago, it has always been difficult for them to pay their bills. To them, before the inception of the prepaid meters, they enjoyed more power without paying enough bills, but now the situation has changed.

The residents raised the concerns in Hohoe during an interaction between them and the staff and management of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) in the Volta Region.

One of them in his submission stressed “we prefer the postpaid meters to the prepaid; we are therefore calling for the re-introduction of the postpaid meters in Hohoe”.

The public forum, which was organized by the ECG, was to engage the consumers in an open forum discussion, take note of customers’ complains and challenges to inform ways and strategies to address them. The forum also presented an opportunity for officials of the ECG to explain and educate residents on their operations.

Hohoe residents were unhappy with what they described as ‘frequent power outages’ in the municipality, difficulties in loading the credit they purchase, and unstable current. Others also complained about the billing system while others were unhappy that it is very difficult to acquire new and separate meters.

Responding to the residents, the General Manager of ECG in the Volta Region, Engineer Delali Oklu, assured them that the concerns raised would be swiftly dealt with as the company is constantly improving its equipment and systems to ensure quality service delivery.

He advised them to ensure they engaged the services of qualified and professional electricians for their domestic and commercial wiring services to avoid high power consumption, unstable current and even fatal accidents.

Ing. Oklu explained that most of the services of ECG were free, except the connection of new and separate meters and extension of power to new places and other peculiar services. To this end, he urged customers to always demand official receipts for all services patronized from any office or agent of the company to avoid extortion and expose unscrupulous personnel.

He was hopeful that the public would continue to assist them to weed out charlatans from the company and also expose all who tamper with the ECG meters or engage in illegal connections.