Minister for Energy, John Peter Amewu, has said that the government will spend approximately 1 billion Ghana cedis for some 4.8 million meters across Ghana for the period stated by the President.
Briefing Ghanaians on the government’s decision to absorb electricity bills for the next three months, Mr Amewu noted that reliefs for Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) customers sum up to GH¢244m per month and GH¢732m for all three months.
“The total electricity reliefs provided by government sum up to about GH¢1bn, covering about 4.8m metres across Ghana,” he said.
According to Mr Amewu, the directive applies to all electricity providing agencies.
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“About 85-86% of Ghanaians have access to the national grid and will benefit from the electricity reliefs granted by the President,” he added.
In his 6th address on Ghana’s preparedness to the fight against coronavirus, President Akufo-Addo announced:
“Government will fully absorb electricity bills for the poorest of the poor, i.e: lifeline consumers. This will cover persons who consume 0 to 50-kilowatt hours per month for this period. This forms part of relief interventions by the State amid the novel coronavirus pandemic.
“Other categories of consumers will enjoy a 50 percent discount within the same period. For all other consumers, residential and commercial, the government will absorb 50 percent of your electricity bill for this period using your March 2020 bill as the benchmark.”
Mr Amewu said the ECG lifeline consumers in Ghana are about one million.