The Electricity Company of Ghana, Ashanti West Region, has installed 200 new smart prepaid meters under the company’s flagship project dubbed Loss Reduction Project (LRP) as a pilot project before introducing another smart prepaid meter in Suame District.

The 200 meters which consists of 150 single phase meters were installed in February at Asouyeboah and 50 three phase meters at Bantama Race course.

According to the power distributor, the pilot project is expected to last for three months and if successful will be rolled out to all towns under Suame District.

Addressing the media, Ing. George Amoah, ECG Ashanti West General Manager, stated that Suame District and five other Districts in Ashanti West Region already had one smart prepaid meter but this project seeks to introduce a dedicated smart prepaid meter for Suame District alone to ensure ECG meets the growing demand of customers.

“Suame District is our biggest District in terms of customer population with over 120,000 customers so there’s the need to ensure we get a dedicated smart prepaid meter to ensure we meet the demands of our customers “, he said.

Under the Pilot Project, customers with non smart prepaid meters, faulty prepaid meters and some postpaid meters had their meters replaced for FREE and the company is monitoring the meter keenly to ensure the pilot project is successful to enable a mass roll out to the over 120,000 customers in Suame District, Ing. Amoah added.

Ing. Amoah announced that customers who had prepaid credit on their meters before the replacement will receive their credits on the new meter as some customers have already received their credits. “We have also educated our customers on how to use the new meter and formed a WhatsApp platform to constantly receive feedback and address customer complaints in addition to constant field visits”, he stated.

According to Ing. Amoah, some of the benefits of the new smart prepaid meter include:

1. Convenience for customers to recharge their meter anytime and anywhere via the ECG PowerApp or shortcode *226#.
2. ⁠The meter also has a User Interface Unit that allowed customers to get real time information in the comfort of their homes on energy used and purchased.
3. ⁠The smart prepaid meters are compliant with the new Meter Management System (MMS) which allows customers to purchase prepaid credit online, without visiting vending points.
4. ⁠The smart prepaid meter also allows the company to monitor the meters remotely, and identify any interference or illegality when the meters are tampered with.

The ECG General Manager for Ashanti West Region expressed hope that the successful completion of this pilot project will enable the company serve all customers who apply for meters and replace faulty meters since there will be enough meter available. “ As we speak we have cleared all 2024 backlog of customers who applied for meters in our six LRP Districts namely; Adum, Ahinsan, Danyame, Kokoben, Abuakwa and Suame and have started replacing faulty and old prepaid meters to reduce our losses”, he revealed.

Ing. George Amoah added that the meter records every activity and we can see it from our office, including tampering with the meter. “When you try tampering with the meter, the meter will go off and you cannot buy credit to recharge your meter until you come to our office. When apprehended, you will be surcharged”, he warned.

Ing. Amoah concluded by calling on the public to act as whistleblowers to help ECG curb illegal connections by reporting people who would engage in any illegality at any ECG office or call the national task force via 0551444011.

“There is a 6% commission of any amount we recoup as an incentive for anyone who gives us reliable information to unearth any illegality”, he added.

The ECG in Ashanti West Region has eight Districts namely: Adum, Ahinsan, Danyame, Kokoben, Abuakwa, Suame, Offinso and Bibiani.