The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) has hinted of spending at least GH₵ 9 million in 2024 on projects in the Volta and Oti Regions.

The power distribution company is set to upgrade pole-mounted transformers, replace damaged poles, among others.

The General Manager of ECG in the Volta Region, Christina Jatoe-Kaleo, said the projects are targeted at improving service delivery.

She added that ECG will have substations built at Kadjebi, Akatsi, and Sogakofe under a special project being undertaken by the headquarters.

“Some contracts have been signed with contractors who will come in with their resources and capitals, set up some substations and switching stations. They will complete, hand over to us and we will pay them later,” she explained.

She added that the supply of locally produced meters would be extended to her jurisdiction to ensure “faulty meters are replaced, improve new service and separate meter connections”.

She identified 2023 as a year of innovation for ECG, as the outfit introduced a cashless system to resolve the challenges associated with the prepaid system leading to long queues at the vending centers.

She warned the public against people impersonating ECG by taking advantage of the cashless system to sell new service meters.

“We don't do that, that is fraud. You will go, use your MoMo account, and pay. We don't ask customers to pay money [into an individual account] which will be transferred to ECG later. So please help us inform our customers,” she charged the media.

Madam Jatoe-Kaleo advised customers who would be contacted by these fraudsters to alert ECG through the Power App, “and they would be handed over to the security services to track them down.”

She said the year under review saw ECG spending GH₵ 5.5 million on the maintenance of its networks and stations, which included replacing burnt, rotten, and broken poles, clearing bushes under the poles and upgrading some transformers.

She added that another GH₵3.2 million was spent on projects such as the extension and upgrading of feeders in the Volta and Oti Regions.

She used the opportunity to appeal to stakeholders to endeavor to protect ECG properties against theft, as there were incidents of people vandalizing ECG’s properties, and numerous attempts to steal copper components from transformers.

“The effect of this is that the outages will be prolonged because it will take some time for us to go and get this material to come and replace them. I don't know how much they sell it, but the cost of replacing it is so expensive”, she lamented.

She recounted the adverse effects of bushfires on ECG’s networks, where poles are burnt resulting in power outages and loss of revenue.

“The community, the assemblymen, and all stakeholders let us all come together because it costs so much to buy a pole, for instance, the 9-meter pole is about GH₵ 4,000, not to talk about the labor you will hire to dig the hole, erect the pole, draw the lines and you will pay the contractor.

"So, before you finish replacing one pole, at least you are hitting GH₵ 5,000. When it comes to the 11-meter [pole] for the high tension, that is close to GH₵ 6,000 for a single pole, minus the cost of replacing it. So, our plea is that you help us so that our people will stop burning [bushes]. If you cannot stop at all, let us minimize or be careful when we are burning. Let us take notice of the electricity poles”, she appealed.