The Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) has launched the second phase of the Database Management System (DBMS) aimed at improving its regulatory rulings.
The management system funded by African Development Bank (AfDB) and Korea Africa Economic Cooperation (KOAFEC) is to aid PURC overcome challenges in data gathering through automating and consistent integration of the DBMS with utility providers under its regulations.
The first phase of the DBMS which was launched in 2021 by PURC to manage its complaint system, focused on the concerns of customers as well as build a strong data base.
Speaking at the launch, Executive Secretary of PURC, Mr. Ishmael Ackah, said the system, unlike the manual ones, will help management and stakeholders resolve issues of inconsistency as well as misinformation that are likely to affect the company’s ability to take prompt regulatory decisions.
Mr. Ackah mentioned that all those efforts by PURC are aimed at achieving energy efficiency and transparency.
“This is a means of automatically measuring and validating data to gauge utility providers’ performances and a platform where the utility providers and regulators can have access to relevant data,” he added.
The Country Manager of AfDB, Ms. Evarusalem Fasika, complimented PURC for pioneering the regulatory digitalisation initiative that has become a blue print for replication across many African countries.
Ms. Fasika mentioned that the initiative also underscores the bank’s efforts to support regional member countries to improve the quality and effectiveness of energy regulation using customer solution to address identified regulatory bottlenecks and create an enabling environment that can attract private investment into the energy sector.
