The Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) has clarified why water tariffs will remain unchanged for the fourth quarter of 2025, despite a 1.14% increase in electricity tariffs.

Dr. Eric Obutey, Director of Research and Corporate Affairs at PURC, explained that the Commission’s detailed tariff computations indicated that water tariffs would have required only a marginal adjustment of 0.1%—a change the Commission decided against.

“When we did the computation, we realised that if we took all the factors into consideration—the exchange rate as well as inflation—the marginal change in tariff would have been 0.1% for water,” Dr. Obutey stated on Channel One Newsroom on Wednesday, September 24.

He added that although the technical assessment supported a slight increase, the Commission opted to maintain the current tariff in the interest of consumers.

“In the wisdom of the commissioners, they thought it wise that 0.1% and 0% — there is not much difference — so let’s leave it at 0%, so that there will be no change at all in the water tariff,” he said.

This clarification follows the PURC announcement that electricity tariffs will rise by 1.14% from October 1, 2025, while water tariffs remain unchanged.

The adjustments fall under PURC’s Quarterly Tariff Review Mechanism, which factors in key economic indicators such as exchange rate fluctuations, inflation, and energy generation costs.

For electricity, the Commission cited the depreciation of the Ghana Cedi and ongoing inflationary pressures as the main reasons for the modest increase. Meanwhile, the impact on water was minimal, prompting the decision to spare consumers from any hike this quarter.