Abstract:
The power theft has over the years been one of the factors militating against efficient supply of
electricity in Ghana. This study was necessary and timely because of the frequent power supply
interruptions Ghana has been facing in the past decade. The study was conducted to assessing the
effect of electricity theft on the Ghanaian power sector. The researcher used convenience
sampling technique to select 150 respondents from domestic consumers of electricity,
commercial consumers of electricity and staff of ECG at Tema. The respondents were made up
of 60 males and 90 females. The quantitative research design was used and three sets of
questionnaires were designed to collect primary data from each category of the respondents. The
study concluded that: high cost of electricity tariffs accounts for power theft among commercial
consumers; connivance between staff of ECG and some commercial consumers of power
account for power theft; lack of frequent monitoring of meters was found to account for both
industrial and domestic power theft; and domestic power theft is caused by poverty,
unemployment and high cost of living. The study also revealed that power theft causes: domestic
and industrial fire outbreaks; energy sector debt; electrocution; high electricity tariffs; and power
supply interruptions. The study recommends that independent meter auditors must be engaged to
conduct periodic monitoring of meters; public education on the dangers associated with power
theft must be intensified; severe punishment should be handed to perpetrators of power theft to
serve as deterrent to others; and “Poor” and unemployed consumers who cannot pay their
electricity bills should be identified and offered subsidized solar energy.
Description:
Submitted to the School of Graduate Studies, Akenten Appiah – Menka University of Skills
Training and Entrepreneurial Development, Kumasi in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for award of the Master of Technology in Electrical and Electronic
Technology Degree
