The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) says it is still in business, providing value addition services to its numerous clientele, urging the public to take advantage of its diversified services to improve on its operations.
Addressing journalists in Accra, Thursday, June 6, 2019, the Managing Director of ECG, Ing. Samuel Boakye-Appiah, said following the lease of its assets to Power Distribution Services (PDS) in a concession agreement spanning a 20-year period, ECG continues to remain relevant in the power sector.
For instance, he said ECG still operates as a Bulk Energy Trader, network and asset ownership, and performance monitoring of PDS.
The utility service provider is also into consultancy services, having turned its training school into a Consultancy Services provider as spelt out in its new business model, according to Ing. Boakye-Appiah.
The new business model of the ECG also focuses on utilizing the company’s fiber optic backbone to venture into utility Telco Services.
“We wish to emphasize that neither ECG’s assets nor its liabilities were transferred to Messrs. PDS. ECG has retained all the network assets and is also liable for debts incurred prior to the transfer of its operations to PDS. We must emphasize that ECG has not been sold. ECG has not changed to PDS. ECG is ECG and PDS is PDS. They are two different entities playing different roles in the Power Sector. ECG will sell energy to bulk to PDS. PDS will in turn pay for the energy consumed and make lease payments to ECG for using ECG’s networks”, he noted.
PDS, on the other hand, according to Ing. Boakye-Appiah, is responsible for electrical network operations, including regular maintenance, fault repairs, and commercial operations (billing, revenue collection, new services connections and investments, rehabilitation, expansion and network extensions”.
The ECG boss further revealed that PDS Ghana Limited as the power distributor will handle and manage on behalf of ECG, all legacy, thus, outstanding issues, revenue collection and unpaid bills prior to the transfer date on March 1, 2019.
“ECG will collect all outstanding monies customers owe to ECG on ECG’s behalf”, Ing. Boakye-Appiah emphasized.
Exploring other opportunities
Having diversified its services, the company, according its Managing Director, is still exploring other opportunities in the energy sector, especially, by leveraging on its fifty years of experience and huge intellectual capital as its disposal to provide training and consultancy services to players in the industry.
“The ECG’s Training School is the strategic competence development center of the company providing technical and non-technical training to serve ECG, VRA, Gridco, Nedco and other utilities in West Africa Sub-region. It has been accredited by the National Accreditation Board for Professional and Technician Examinations (NABP TEX). The training program cover technical areas for organizations within the energy sector, mining, oil exploration and provide in-service trainings, tailored programs for organizations, refresher programs and engineering basics for non-engineers in engineering fields”, he stressed.
