The Grid Company Limited (GRIDCo) has officially reported the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) to the Energy Minister for their failure to issue a low-shedding timetable for customers during the erratic power supply, commonly referred to as ‘dumsor’.
According to GRIDCo, the National System Control Centre (NSCC) has requested ECG to provide a timetable due to the persistent unavailability of the maximum grid capacity and warns that ECG’s refusal to comply with the directive of the GRIDCo poses a serious risk to the stability of the national grid.
The petition, which was submitted on Thursday, 28th March, 2024, highlighted the potential consequences of possible power disruptions to customers, both domestic and industrial.
Excerpt of the statement read, ‘’ we note with grave concern the repeated instances where Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) Operations personnel fail to follow load management instructions issued by the SCC. This non-compliance poses a significant threat to the stability of the power grid, potentially leading to:
· Avoidable power outages for customers
· System collapse
‘’ The SCC routinely communicates load management directives to ECG Operations. However, these instructions are often either not effected or inadequately implemented. This result in a decline in a system frequency, triggering.’’
GRIDCo further clarified that accusations levelled against it for the emergency disconnections do not accurately represent the current situation.
GRIDCo further pointed that , ECG’s failure to adhere to the load management instructions constitutes a violation of regulations, and as such, GRIDCo should not be held liable for matters that not in its domain.
The statement further said, ‘’ when these emergency disconnections occur, ECG publishes customer notices attributing the loss of power supply to GRIDCo, which is not accurate description of the current situation.
Furthermore, ECG’s disregard for load management instructions is a clear violation of the regulations’’.
GRIDCo is therefore calling on the Minister for Energy, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh to intervene and ensure that the officials of ECG comply with the directives from the SCC to the issuance of a load-shedding timetable.
‘’We therefore bring this to your kind attention, Honourable Minister, and seek your urgent intervention to ensure cooperation from ECG with respect to load management operations,’’ GRIDCo’s petition stressed.
