PURC dismisses need for load-shedding timetable despite outages
The Public Utilities Regulatory Commission has stated that recent power outages across the country do not warrant the introduction of a formal load-shedding timetable.
Acting Executive Secretary of the Commission, Shafic Suleman, said the current disruptions do not amount to “dumsor” and expressed confidence that electricity supply will stabilise soon.
Speaking on JoyNews on Monday, April 27, 2026, he noted that the situation does not require power rationing.
“It doesn’t require us to do any load shedding… we are resolving most of the problems, and I’m sure power will be fully restored as soon as possible,” he said.
His remarks come amid growing calls from the public for an official timetable to help households and businesses plan around frequent, unannounced outages that have disrupted economic activity.
Dr Suleman attributed the interruptions to technical challenges and ongoing system upgrades rather than a shortfall in power generation. He cited a recent incident involving the transmission network, including a disruption at a substation operated by the Ghana Grid Company at Akosombo, which led to the loss of about 1,000 megawatts of power.
“On Thursday we had an unfortunate accident… and that’s a huge problem because about 1,000MW has been curtailed,” he explained.
He said engineers are working to restore the affected capacity, while broader infrastructure improvements are being implemented. He also highlighted long-standing investment gaps in the power distribution system.
“The system has been under-invested for a very long time… we are upgrading it to make it much more convenient for Ghanaians to use,” he added.
As part of the intervention measures, Dr Suleman noted that the Electricity Company of Ghana is replacing and installing thousands of transformers nationwide to enhance reliability, with more than 3,000 units already procured for deployment.
The ongoing outages have raised concerns among businesses and households, many of whom say the unpredictability of power supply is increasing operational costs and affecting productivity, particularly due to reliance on generators.
The situation has also reignited national discussions about the stability of Ghana’s power sector, which has experienced periodic disruptions linked to generation, transmission, and distribution constraints—often referred to as “dumsor.”
Despite these concerns, Dr Suleman urged calm, assuring that the challenges are temporary.
“We are working for the Ghanaian consumer… these are temporary challenges, and we are putting in place measures to ensure stable power supply,” he said.
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