The Millennium Development Authority (MiDA) has inaugurated and handed over a state-of-the-art utility geographic information system to the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) as part of its power compact activities.
The Utility GIS will provide a digital platform and tools for ECG to plan, manage and efficiently operate its network to meet global utility management standards.
The system is also expected to significantly enhance customer service delivery of the state power distributor with improved reliability and quality of power supplied, reading and bills deliveries and response to consumer concerns.
MiDA’s Board Chairperson, Prof. Yaa Ntiamoa-Baidu, speaking at the handing over ceremony, remarked that the investments into ECG’s operations and financial turnaround will strengthen the utility company and consequently have a bearing on other operators in the power supply value chain.
“Over 80percent of the funding for the Compact is allocated to activities that help reduce technical and commercial losses, improve revenue collection, reduce outages and transform ECG into a modern utility player,” she said.
“The GIS is serving as the foundation to a suite of utility applications geared at modernizing the operations of our country’s largest electric distribution utility,” she added.
ECG previously relied on manual and standalone computerized systems which made service delivery and operations ineffective and therefore, the new system will help it to better manage its assets and business processes to boost technical and financial performance aside improving customer service delivery.
Energy Minister, Matthew Opoku-Prempeh, in a speech read on his behalf, commended the board and leadership of MiDA for their continuous support to the nation’s power sector.
He tasked the management and staff of ECG to see to the maximum use of the technology to enhance their operational efficiency and to improve customer service delivery.
“GIS is essential for electric utility operations in many ways and this tool provides the foundational layer of technology for effective asset management as well as regulatory compliance.
With diligent application of these tools, the ECG should be able to address the challenges to its operations including the high levels of distribution losses, low revenue collection rate and poor data handling management,” he noted.
