Claims by the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) that the recent surge in rapid depletion of prepaid electricity credit is due to accurate readings from newly installed smart meters have been challenged by the Deputy Ranking Member of Parliament’s Energy Committee, Collins Adomako-Mensah.

The issue has sparked widespread concern among electricity consumers, with many reporting that their prepaid credit is running out unusually fast despite minimal usage.

ECG officials had suggested that the new smart meters are simply capturing actual consumption, in contrast to the older meters, which allegedly under-recorded usage.

However, speaking on Citi FM on Thursday, February 26, Adomako-Mensah dismissed the explanation, describing it as implausible.

He pointed out that nearly one million smart meters had already been installed by the end of 2024, yet complaints about rapid credit depletion did not arise at the time.

“These smart meters have been with us for some time, and the installation exercise is ongoing. The rapid erosion of prepaid credit only began about three to four weeks ago.

"If the issue were purely a matter of smart meters recording accurate usage, we would have seen this problem much earlier,” he said.

Adomako-Mensah’s comments come as the Ministry of Energy and Green Transition has directed ECG to investigate the growing complaints to restore public confidence in the billing system.

The Deputy Ranking Member emphasised that the ECG explanation, attributed to its General Manager for External Communications, Dr Charles Nii Ayiku Ayiku, does not add up, given the timeline of smart meter installations and the sudden onset of the problem.