Pay the Independent Power Producers; we can’t afford power cuts – Jantuah tells Finance Minister

Energy Expert Mr Kwame Jantuah has told the Finance Minister to pay the Independent Power Producers (IPPs) what is due them to enable them to continue to supply power.

Mr Jantuah said the country cannot afford to go through power cuts hence the government must do all it can to meet the needs of the IPPs.

“I expect the president to ask the Finance Minister why have we sat down all this while and not been able to pay.

“Try as much as possible to offer something to the Independent Power Producers,” he said on the Big Issue on TV3 Friday, June 23 while contributing to a discussion on the decision by the IPPs to cut power supply due to non-payment of their arrears.

The IPPs had said they will not be in a position to continue the generation of electricity.

They said their earlier request to the Finance Minister to pay an interim 30 percent of their arrears to enable them to continue to operate has not been heeded by the Ministry.

“We refer to our letters dated March 27, 2023 and May 25, 2023 with reference numbers IPGG/1/2023 and IPGG/2/2023 addressed to the Minister [Finance] by which the IPP Chamber stressed the urgent necessity for the government to prioritise payment of the outstanding arrears owed to members of the IPP Chamber to enable the IPPs to cover critical operational costs required to continue operations and pay overdue debt service”, the said in a statement to the Finance Minister.

The statement added “We had indicated in our letters that IPPs needed to receive an interim payment of 30% of the outstanding arrears of each IPP by 20th June 2023.

“Unfortunately, we have not seen any good faith indication or commitment of such impending payment from ECG/Government as of today, June 21, 2023, despite the Electricity Company of Ghana’s recent collection efforts, as reported in the media, which yielded circa ¢3.1 billion.

“At an emergency meeting of the IPP Chamber held on Tuesday 20th of June 2023, it was resolved that unless the IPPs receive the interim payment requested by the 30th June 2023 the members of the IPP Chmaber will not be in a position to guarantee the continued generation of electricity after 30th June.”

Meanwhile, Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta has scheduled a meeting with the IPPs over their threat to cut power supply due to non-payment of their arrears.

The meeting is expected to take place today Friday, June 23.