Two of Ghana’s major electricity utilities, the Northern Electricity Distribution Company (NEDCo) and the Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo), have applied to the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) for sharp tariff hikes, citing escalating costs and the need to strengthen operational efficiency.
NEDCo is seeking approval to raise its Distribution Service Charge from 56.474 pesewas per kilowatt-hour to 153.03 pesewas in 2025, a 171 percent increase. The company said its vast service area, sparse customer base, and limited number of special load customers, just 0.01 percent, constrain revenue generation.
“We’re proposing an increase of 171%. We expect that the new tariff will improve our performance, boost our collection rate, and reduce distribution losses from 31% to 21%,” said Hashim Iddrisu, NEDCo’s Director in Charge of Commercial, during a public hearing in Accra.
NEDCo projects its variable cost per unit at 67.10 pesewas and fixed costs at 85.92 pesewas per unit, adding that much of its capital expenditure, including network expansion, meters, and IT systems, is foreign currency-denominated, exposing the utility to exchange rate pressures.
GRIDCo, which operates Ghana’s power transmission system, is also requesting a 130 percent increase in its transmission service tariff, from 5.6422 pesewas per kilowatt-hour to 12.9768 pesewas in 2025. Acting Director of Corporate Strategy, Samuel Kow Acquah, said the sharp jump in the first year is necessary to ensure a cost-reflective tariff, though subsequent adjustments would be modest.
“We’ve looked at cost rationalization measures so that we don’t pass on some costs to consumers. If you look at the first year, we require that leap to GHS12.96 per kilowatt-hour. After the first year, an increment of 0.5% will sustain our operations,” Acquah explained. He added that between 2026 and 2030, GRIDCo projects smaller tariff increases, ranging from 0.1 percent to 2.5 percent, enabling it to phase investments gradually.
The submissions from NEDCo and GRIDCo add to earlier proposals by the Volta River Authority (VRA) and the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), meaning all four of Ghana’s major utilities have now tabled requests for tariff increases ahead of PURC’s review process.
Together, the utilities argue that the adjustments are critical to reducing losses, improving efficiency, and supporting infrastructure expansion. But if approved, consumers will face significantly higher electricity bills, intensifying concerns over the rising cost of power in Ghana.
