ECG recovers GH¢21.5m from illegal connections

The amount represents the cost of 17.75 million kilowatts hour (kwh) of power stolen.

The ECG examined 119,349 meters and detected a number of illegalities

The illegal connections included meter by-pass, direct connections, meter tampering and unauthorised service connections.

The Ashanti Regional Communications Manager of the ECG, Erastus Kyere Baidoo disclosed that the company was able to retrieve such an amount as a result of a massive revenue protection campaign to rid the system of power theft.

Illegal power connection Pulse Ghana

He said in the process, it recovered GH¢21.515 million from people who had engaged in illegal connections.

Baidoo added that those who were caught in the illegal act were surcharged and made to pay for the power consumed before being reconnected to the grid.

He bemoaned the negative effects of power theft on the company's operations as it regularly restrained it from undertaking improvement and expansion projects.

He said those who were unable to pay outright were given up to three months to pay for the power stolen.

"You need to pay at least 75 per cent of the penalty before you are reconnected," he noted.