The Eastern Regional branch of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) has spent Gh¢5,502,500 on the acquisition of over 4,000 prepaid meters for installation at Kyebi in the Eastern Region.
The prepaid meters have been allocated to replace existing post-paid ones in the community.
The three-month project, which started in January this year, is expected to be completed in March.
Briefing some customers at Kyebi on the project, Mr Yusif Adamu, the MBH Metering System Project Engineer, said the uniqueness of the MBH meters lied in the use of the keypad operator rather than the card, which requires customers to swipe or insert to load credits.
He explained that the meters are linked to a separate User Interface Unit (UIU), which can be used by customers to manually operate the meter.
“customers do not have to go to their meters to monitor their units because the UIU is installed at an assessible location in the customers’ premises for easy monitoring,” he said.
Mr Adamu said the meters were GPRS compliant, which enabled purchases to be remotely credited to the meter from the point of sale.
He said the meters had special features to detect illegal connection and disconnect customers from supply and had the ability to record customer consumption.
Mr Adamu said vending points have been commissioned at the Kyebi District Office of the ECG and some parts of the town to enable customers to purchase units without any stress.
He indicated that customers, as well as prepaid vendors at Kyebi, had been educated on the use of the new meter.
The project, he said, would be extended to other communities as it progressed.
Mr Louis Nutsugah, the ECG District Manager for Kyebi, expressed excitement over the project and said it would enable the company to improve on its revenue collection in the district.
He said customers would now have control over the amount of power they consumed.
Mr Nutsugah said his outfit had put in place a comprehensive plan to ensure the success of the project and assured all customers of quality services.
Mr Bernard Asare, the first customer to be connected to the prepayment metering system, commended ECG for the initiative and said it would enable him to estimate the amount of money he would consume every month.
By Benjamin Akoto, GNA
