The Minority in Parliament has urged the government to settle the $20 million debt owed to the West African Pipeline Company (WAPCo) to prevent a severe power crisis in the country.

GRIDCo, in a statement on October 26, disclosed that a shortage of gas supply had resulted in a 550MW power supply deficit during peak hours, leading to power outages in certain regions.

In an interview with the media, the MP for Bongo, Edward Bawa, attributed the ongoing power outages to the government's outstanding debt of $20 million to WAPCo and suggested that the government should establish an arrangement with WAPCo to address the issue.

He emphasized the need for the government to establish a working agreement with WAPCo to ensure that gas transmission from Obuasi to Tema continues.

“Government must find a way or make an arrangement with as to how that can be paid. If WAPCO begins to have some comfort that government has kept in touch to do the payment, then, I believe that it will work.

“Government must be working to see how they can give WAPCo some level of comfort to continue transmitting gas from Obuasi to Tema or else we are going to be in trouble. If the gas does not come, what it simply means is that the plants cannot run because they use fuel. And if they cannot run, you’d have that 'dumsor','” he said.

Failure to do so, he said, would result in significant challenges, as the power plants rely on gas to function.

Mr Bawa expressed concerns that without the necessary gas supply, the nation might experience "dumsor," or erratic power supply.

Edward Bawa, a member of the Mines and Energy Committee of Parliament, provided insights into why WAPCo had to curtail gas supply due to the unpaid debt.

He revealed that WAPCo had not received payment since January 2023, resulting in the accumulation of unpaid bills.

The complexity of the situation arises from the fact that the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) lacks the means to enter into agreements with power or gas utilities, and the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) serves as a guarantor for ECG.

Consequently, ECG is responsible for paying WAPCo, but the cash flow mechanism, which used to allocate funds collected from power sales to the utilities, has been disrupted for almost 13 months.

“Now the question you would ask is whose liability is it? It is true that if you look at ECG, they do not have a healthy access or guarantee to be able to always go into arrangements with power or gas utilities so GNPC stood in as a guarantee for ECG.

"So ECG has to pay WAPCo but unfortunately because for almost 13 months now the cash waterfall mechanism where all the monies that ECG collects after selling power is put for it to be distributed among the utility mechanism is no longer working, ECG is unable to pay the liability,” he explained.