The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECC) under the able-leadership of its Managing Director (MD), Agyeman-Budu, has saved the company and by extension the country a whopping GH¢20,929,64.00 which hitherto could not have been accounted for.
This sterling development was due to the extra efforts the MD took to reduce cost at the company.
Documents available to this paper indicate that Mr. Agyemang-Budu effectively negotiated for the reduction of materials and other items for project work and supplies which saved the company the GH¢20,929,64.26 million.
Mr. Agyemang-Budu, according to group of ECG staff, has changed the face of ECG making it more viable than before through the implementation of some major projects.
Since assuming office, Mr. Agyemang-Budu has caused the implementation of the ECG Power App which enables for online of electricity bill payment, inquiries and meter management at the convenience of the customer.
He has also introduced the ECG Web Portal. This also provides ease of managing customer accounts online in the comfort of homes and offices and the ECG Call centers, Bulk SMS broadcasts and WhatsApp business contact.
Interestingly, ECG currently is using a unique meter management system and meter control which provides a network of system which enables customers to purchase electricity or pay for their bills anywhere in the country.
Even though some members of staff have risen against his leadership style, emerging information with available documents point to the fact that ECG is better off under Mr. Agyemang-Budu.
According to the Group, ECG currently also has a dedicated 11k V underground circuit installed from ECG Airport City substation to the new terminals which if completed would ensure power stability and reliability at the new terminals.
There is also interconnection between the Accra and Eastern regional fibre network project due to the improved communication on ECG networks resulting in improved operational efficiency for better customer service delivery.
They also indicated that there has been a VTF Feeder Automation Scheme which enables self-correcting of the distribution network using sectionalizers and auto resources without relying on complicated human communication system to reduce outages.
On other achievements he made since assuming office which have become talk among staff of the company, are the 905 completed network development projects within the past three years in all operational regions of the country.
He has also, through his strategies reduced the Average supply interruption frequency per customer by 61% and the average network interruption frequency per customer from 86 times to 41 times representing a 52% reduction.
He has also succeeded in restoring the average network duration from 1.8hrs to 1.4hrs by 22% improvement.
Further checks have revealed that ECG under Mr. Agyemang-Budu procured Electric Vehicle Charging System and emolument debt reduction program to improve revenue collection from Private and government institutions.
There is also the implementation of energy recovery program process which improves system loss recovery by 1% annually, which runs into millions of Ghana Cedis.
Projects
Under Mr. Agyemang-Budu, ECG had completed 21 new projects including 12 customer service centers and 7 district offices and two warehouses.
He has refurbished 20 existing primary stations, and constructed 5 new primary substations at Mataheko, Kanda, Legon, Ogbojo and Agbogba.
There has also been mapping towards improved service delivery and loss reduction which also captured 117,000 SHEP meters and identified and set up in the CMS as at end of June 2020.
Currently, there has been improved billing process through the roll-out of the Mobility App for meter reading, decoupling of meter reading and bill distribution.