The Power Ministry has met with unionised public utility workers in a bid to stop them from disconnecting electricity supply to state institutions that have defaulted in electricity bills payment.

The move by the Ministry is in response to a stern notice by the Public Utilities Workers Union Monday, that they will lead the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) in a massive disconnection exercise from June 20, 2016, to retrieve all arrears owed them by consumers.

General Secretary of the Union, Ato Kwamena Bondzie-Quaye, told Joy News, the move has been fueled by the failure of government institutions and post-paid consumers to pay huge debts in unpaid electricity bills.

Deputy Power Minister, John Jinapor, who led the ministry during Tuesday’s meeting, hopes to sway the workers from carrying out the June 20 mass disconnection.

The outcome of the meeting is yet to be made public, however, Joy News sources say government will be expected to provide a roadmap for the settlement of over ¢900 million in debts spanning many years.

The Ministry would also be expected to soften its stance on a directive to the power distributor to suspend its current billing system.

Some post-paid customers have lodged complaints with the PURC revealing that they now pay between two to three times as much as they paid for the same quantity of power consumed in previous months.

Government has been battling huge debts to utility companies for many years.

A plan to get Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to shift from post-paid billing system to prepaid metres in order to cutdown on accumulated electricity bills has not yielded much progress.

It is estimated that only about 45 percent of MDAs are currently on the prepaid billing system.