Ranking Member on Parliament’s Energy Committee has disagreed with the increase in utility tariffs by the Public Utilities and Regulatory Commission (PURC).

According to him, PURC’s weighted average for the utilities is inconsistent with the Energy Commission’s report, thus not proper.

He added that if the PURC were to properly apply the weighted average the charge should be significantly less than 30 per cent, particularly in electricity.

“I have serious issues with the PURC because of the so-called weighted average. They have given about 80 per cent to thermal and just about 20 per cent to hydro.

“If you read the Energy Commission’s report, it is at variance with this analysis from the PURC. We are doing the analysis and we want to prove that the PURC’s weighted average is inconsistent and improper,” he added.

On Monday, PURC announced an increase in electricity and water tariffs by 29.96% and 8.3% respectively.

The new rates are expected to take effect from February 1, 2023.

Speaking in an interview on Joy FM’s Newsnight on Monday, Mr Jinapor said the increase is unsustainable.

He explained that the increase in utility tariffs will bring untold hardship to Ghanaians.

But reacting to this, the Director of Research and Corporate Affairs at the PURC, Dr Eric Kofi Obutey said “the computation that we have had from the Commission is what we have put out to the public that is the 29.96 per cent.”

He noted that the Commission used the weighted average of the gas prices as well as inflation and exchange rates.

“So from our computation, the figures that we got are the figures that we came out with,” he explained.