The Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) has announced that electricity bills will go up by 14.75%, while water bills will rise by 4.02% for everyone.

According to PURC, this change is part of a regular review they do every few months to adjust prices for electricity, water, and gas based on how things are going in the economy.

They explained that the main reasons for the increase are the falling value of the Cedi compared to the dollar, rising prices (inflation), the way electricity is being produced, and the cost of fuel used, especially natural gas.

The Commission said the goal of the increase is to make sure utility companies don’t lose too much money or charge too much, keeping things balanced.

Back in July last year, PURC also raised prices — electricity went up by 4.22% and water by 1.18%.

With today’s new changes, it means that within less than a year, Ghanaians are now paying a total of 18.97% more for electricity and 5.20% more for water — adding more pressure on households already dealing with tough economic times.

PURC said they had to increase the tariffs again because utility companies weren’t making enough money and were struggling financially. They warned that without the increase, these companies could collapse.

Still, the Commission said they tried to keep the increase as low as possible, noting that things could have been worse if they had decided to recover all the unpaid debts at once.