The Minority Caucus in Parliament has described the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission’s (PURC) recently announced 4.81% reduction in electricity tariffs as grossly inadequate, insisting that Ghanaian consumers were shortchanged through over-projections in inflation and exchange rate assumptions throughout 2025.
In a press conference addressed by Deputy Ranking Member on the Energy Committee, Collins Adomako Mensah, on Wednesday, March 18, 2026, the Minority accused the PURC of systematically setting tariffs based on inflated economic forecasts that did not materialise, leading to excessive charges on households and businesses.
The PURC announced on March 13, 2026, that electricity tariffs would fall by an average of 4.81% and water tariffs by 3.06%, effective April 1, 2026, following its quarterly review. However, the Minority argued that this adjustment falls far short of what is deserved.
Reviewing PURC’s own quarterly data for 2025, the caucus highlighted significant over-projections noting that inflation was over-projected by a cumulative 17.79 percentage points across the year, while exchange rates (cedi to dollar) were overstated in most quarters, except Q3.
The Minority cited independent analysis by the Centre for Environmental Management and Sustainable Energy, which estimated that consumers were overcharged by approximately GH¢1.5 billion in Q4 2025 alone. The Caucus’s maintained that a fair tariff reduction for the current period should have been no less than 10%.
“Our own analysis of the full-year 2025 data concurs. The 4.81% reduction announced by the PURC does not reflect the actual economic conditions of 2025. It reflects a fraction of what consumers are genuinely owed,” the statement read in part.
The caucus further noted that electricity tariffs had seen cumulative increases of approximately 23% since early 2025 (including hikes of 14.75% in April, 2.45% in July, 1.14% in October, and 9.86% in January 2026), making the current cut mere partial reversal rather than genuine relief.
They also clarified that the reduction occurred under the ongoing IMF programme, countering claims that the programme mandates only upward adjustments.
“Every single increment imposed on Ghanaian consumers under this administration is the direct result of policy choices, not the terms of the IMF agreement,” the Minority asserted.
The caucus called on the PURC to urgently review its methodology using verified actual data and implement a corrective adjustment delivering at least 10% relief to consumers in Q3 2026.