The Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) has dismissed calls for a formal load-shedding timetable, despite recent intermittent power outages that have sparked public concern across Ghana.
Acting Executive Secretary of the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC), Shafic Suleman, said the current electricity disruptions do not amount to a nationwide crisis commonly referred to as “dumsor,” insisting that supply will soon stabilise.
Speaking on JoyNews on Monday, April 27, he maintained that the situation does not require load-shedding arrangements.
“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 public pressure for an official timetable to help households and businesses manage frequent and unannounced outages that have disrupted economic activity.
Dr Suleman attributed the disruptions mainly to technical faults and ongoing system upgrades rather than generation shortfalls. He referenced a recent incident involving the transmission network that significantly affected supply.
“On Thursday we had an unfortunate accident… and that’s a huge problem because about 1,000MW has been curtailed,” he said, referring to a fire incident at a substation operated by the Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo) in Akosombo.
He explained that engineers are working to restore lost capacity while broader infrastructure improvements continue. He also acknowledged 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 noted.
As part of ongoing interventions, the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) is reportedly replacing and installing thousands of transformers nationwide to improve reliability, with over 3,000 units already procured for deployment.
The recurring outages have raised concerns among businesses and households, many of whom say the unpredictable power supply is increasing operating costs and affecting productivity, particularly due to reliance on generators.
While the situation has revived memories of past national power crises, Dr Suleman insisted the challenges are temporary and being actively addressed.
“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.
