The Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC), in collaboration with the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), has inaugurated a Centre of Excellence in Public Utility Regulation (CEPUR).
Located within the campus of GIMPA, the educational research and consultancy Centre will develop the competencies and expertise of people in regulation and governance for the electricity, water, natural gas and other public utility sectors.
CEPUR will offer programmes leading to the award of certificates in different areas of utility regulation and management, with funding from the PURC, GIMPA and donors. It is also expected to spearhead cutting-edge research to support informed investment and policy decision-making for utilities in the country and beyond.
Minister of Energy, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, inaugurated the facility in Accra. He said the Centre’s establishment is timely and relevant, as it will help to meet the demands of emerging dynamics in the utilities space.
“Let me express government’s appreciation to the PURC and GIMPA for this initiative in creating a Centre of Excellence in Public Utility Regulation – an institutional collaboration to establish and develop competencies and expertise in economic regulation for the electricity, water and natural-gas sectors, and other public utility service sectors.
“This is both timely and relevant. It is timely because emerging dynamics in the energy sector, including the energy transition and energy security concerns, require a competent and skilful workforce that is ready to help position Ghana and Africa to secure sustainable outcomes for future generations. My ministry has already taken the lead in developing and implementing a road-map for energy transition in Ghana. The opening of this Centre will therefore provide the needed support to develop the skills necessary to achieve Africa’s energy vision,” the minister said.
He added that it is also relevant because, in most cases, Africa has been the consumer of research findings and emerging ideas led or written by researchers who may not have experienced the continent’s socio-political landscape. “Given the pedigree of GIMPA and quality of its faculty members, it is my expectation that the Centre will become a thought-leader in developing innovative and breakthrough research on utility regulation across the continent and beyond.”
Professor Samuel Kwaku Bonsu, Rector-GIMPA, assured that the Centre will conduct high-level policy-relevant research and encourage scholarly and public dialogues on utility regulation.
He said the CEPUR will also be a leading point of ideas and policies to support not only PURC but also similar institutions across the continent, noting that steps have been initiated toward making the Centre part of a global network of utilities research centres.
“The Centre’s launch coincides with our planned restructuring of the GIMPA School of Public Service into a hub of intellectual activities focused on the business of government and parastatal organisations,” Prof. Bonsu added.
Utility performance index
The Commission also launched the maiden Ghana Utility Performance Index (GUPI), which evaluates computes and ranks the performance of all regional utilities – taking into account the utility’s performance against a scoring criterion developed in line with key regulatory indicators.
The index was developed using a set of 11 indicators for the electricity sector and 12 indicators for the water sector. These indicators were selected from PURC’s key performance regulatory indicators and existing Legislative Instruments for monitoring utilities’ quality of services.
It is an aggregated performance index computed to assess the performance of Ghana’s electricity and water utilities across their operational areas and regions.
The inaugural edition assessed the Electricity Company of Ghana’s (ECG) performance across its seven operational regions and one strategic business unit; that of Northern Electricity Distribution Company (NEDCo) across its five operational areas; and of Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) across its 13 operational regions.
Results of the 2021 index showed that the utilities assessed exhibited varied levels of performance across the different indicators, and along regional lines.
For the electricity sector, it was observed that regions which achieved the highest levels of performance had implemented and undertaken revenue mobilisation drives, high fault maintenance regimes; and were cost-efficient. For the water sector, high-performing operational areas witnessed high water quality levels, cost-efficiency and high consumer responsiveness.
“The GUPI has a number of advantages. First, it will help utilities to decide the direction of their investments toward improving service delivery. Second, results of the index will enable regulators to identify areas of focus for future auditing and monitoring activities toward enhancing the utilities’ performance.
“Third, data on the GUPI will be published and made available for research- and policy-relevant studies that will help improve the sectors. Finally, it is the Commission’s expectation that the results will promote peer-learning and efficiency among the utilities with the objective of ensuring consumers gain higher value for money,” said PURC’s Executive Secretary, Ishmael Ackah.
He explained that introducing the index is part of PURC’s regulatory efforts aimed at promoting robust, competitive and efficient electricity and water utility sectors. GUPI therefore builds on PURC’s existing utility performance analysis through regulatory auditing and monitoring techniques, by evaluating the overall performance of specific regional and operational areas of the country’s electricity and water utilities.
“I am proud to say that the construction of this performance index was done in-house by a select group of PURC staff. This attests to the Commission’s drive in leveraging on the capabilities of its staff while building capacity. I take this opportunity to congratulate all staff who worked assiduously on development of the index,” Mr. Ackah added.
