The debt led to NEDCo disconnecting power to the Dalun treatment plant of GWCL, which supplies water to residents in Tamale and its environs.

NEDCo Communications Manager Maxwell Kotoka said the company would welcome a payment plan negotiation with GWCL, provided a significant amount of the debt is paid upfront.

“I am sure that we can get into some talks at the appropriate time and if we get that time, we will like the GWCL to pay a decent amount out of that which is owed and also a very reliable and acceptable payment agreement that will be a win-win, and then we will definitely understand and restore the power.”

He added that it is not in NEDCo’s best interest to disconnect customers, as the power they have to distribute will often go to waste, which comes back as a loss to them.

“We have always insisted that when we disconnect institutions or individuals, we cannot be repaid because at the end of the day, the power we have paid to produce, we cannot be distributed for money and so it is not in our best interest to disconnect.”

The disconnection has created a looming water shortage in the Northern Regional capital, Tamale, as such a major treatment plant of GWCL is without power to continue production.