Minister for Energy and Green Transition, John Jinapor, has announced that all government agencies will soon be switched to prepaid electricity meters.
The move is part of a broader national strategy to curb both technical and commercial losses in Ghana’s power distribution network.
The Minister announced in Parliament in response to steps being taken by the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) to address system inefficiencies.
Mr Jinapor explained that the prepaid metering policy is a central component of ECG’s Loss Reduction Programme (LRP), a comprehensive initiative targeting illegal connections, inaccurate billing, and energy auditing shortfalls.
One of the major interventions under the LRP is Boundary Metering, which involves installing MMS-compliant meters at all ECG regional and district boundary points.
This system enables detailed upstream and downstream energy audits, allowing ECG to identify loss-prone areas with greater accuracy.
“To date, boundary meters have been installed in five of ECG’s ten operational regions like Western, Central, Eastern, Volta, and Tema,” the Minister said.
Installation in the remaining regions is ongoing. Another critical element is Distribution Transformer (DT) Metering.
This project aims to equip all transformers in ECG’s network with meters to improve load management and enable precise monitoring.
“Out of the 30,000 DT meters needed, 3,349 have already been installed,” Hon. Jinapor reported, noting that the Ministry is working swiftly to clear additional meters currently delayed at the ports to expedite the installation process.
To address customers without functioning meters due to delays in installation or faulty devices, ECG has introduced a Flat Rate Billing system.
While this is a temporary measure, the Minister emphasised its importance in preventing illegal hookups and untracked electricity consumption.
“This approach helps plug revenue gaps and discourages consumers from resorting to unauthorized connections,” he noted.
The migration of government agencies to prepaid metering is aimed at boosting transparency, promoting energy conservation, and ensuring ECG receives payment for electricity consumed.
According to Hon. Jinapor, unpaid bills and unmetered consumption by public institutions have been a major source of ECG’s financial strain.
Prepaid metering will eliminate this problem and reinforce accountability in the use of public electricity.
