The Ministry of Mines and Energy today said it has identified a high degree of electricity waste in "sensitive institutions" exempted from the load shedding programme. The statement said if the situation is not checked it will aggravate the already precarious supply situation.

A statement signed by the Acting Chief Programme Officer, Dr A. K. Ofosu-Ahenkorah, noted that the combined load of 37 exempted institutions exceeds 27.8 megawatts (MW) during the day and 21 MW during the night. It said this development comes at a time when the allocation to industries in Accra alone has been reduced to less than 15 MW during the day and 10 MW during the night".

The current shortfall in electricity production has compelled power companies to embark on load shedding throughout the country. However, a number of government ministries and institutions, such as hospitals, the military and communications, whose activities are considered sensitive have been exempted from the exercise. Having identified this unfortunate development, the Electricity Company of Ghana and the Volta River Authority is to organise a workshop to educate the consumers on the need to conserve electricity.

Representatives of these institutions with the ranks of directors and analogous grades are expected to attend the workshop, to be opened by the sector minister. As part of the conservation measures, the ministry will soon undertake energy audits on all sensitive installations, after which a special task force will embark on load management exercises in large consumption areas to reduce the effects of excessive demand on the supply situation.