Govt Working To Forestall Shutdown Of Power Plant– Atta-Akyea

Samuel Atta-Akyea, the Chairman of the Mines and Energy Committee of Parliament, says the government is working to clear outstanding debt owed power suppliers, (IPPs) Independent Power Producers on Saturday, July 1.

According to him, measures are being put in place to forestall and prevent the dire implications of the shutdown of power plants by IPPs.

“The independent power producers are concerned about the necessity that they should be paid and if you pay one, and you don’t pay the other and the power is withdrawn, what will be the consequences, and so I don’t think that the Minister of Finance will do that kind of thing of paying some and not paying others.”

“The government is acutely aware of the implication of withdrawing power from the system and so the government is doing everything to ensure that it doesn’t come to that.”

“It is a financial matter and the Finance Minister must find a way to ensure that even if they will be met in some reasonable terms, they should do it. If you don’t have the money, but there is goodwill to pay some of the money, it will urge them to give you the power and so that is the whole point of the matter but when you take a stand against you not paying them at all, then you are trying to dare them to cut the power.”

The Chamber had in a memo, directed its members to shut down their plants from July 1 to July 8 if the government fails to pay 30 percent of the 1.73 billion dollars owed them.

But according to a statement released by the chamber on Friday, June 30th, the IPPs have agreed to keep operating their power plants after July 1, 2023, after reaching an agreement with the Electricity Company of Ghana.