Energy Minister Matthew Opoku Prempeh has asked chief executives of specified entities and agencies to lead the way in Ghana’s energy efficiency and conservation efforts.

This, according to Dr Prempeh, is one of the important ways of ensuring the country’s energy security in the medium to long term.

He made this call when he addressed the 4th Chamber of CEOs retreat last Friday in Kwahu, Nkwatia in the Eastern Region.

He said uncontrolled energy demand can result in a number of negative effects, including increased demand on the economy by way of increasing generation capacity to meet the ever-growing demand.

In the view of the sector minister, lack of energy conservation and efficiency could also lead to a situation where a greater percentage of the country’s resources are spent on crude oil for thermal plants, thus, robbing the nation of resources that could have been channelled into healthcare, education and infrastructural development.

The minister, who also represents Manhyia South in parliament, further stressed that industries that are not energy-efficient become non-competitive because of their high production cost.

“High electricity cost keeps certain class of domestic consumers perpetually poor. Financial resources that could be used to improve their standards of living are spent on electricity bills”, he said.

Dr Prempeh also indicated that the statistics and the available data point to very little attention paid to energy conservation in the offices of the various entities and said such attitudes are only counter-productive to nation-building.

Using an April 2015 case study of energy consumption audit of some 19 ministries as the basis for his admonishment, he charged the CEOs to ensure that not only energy-efficient air conditioners, bulbs and refrigerators are used but also switched off when not in use.

He also asked for the replacement of old and rickety appliances, as research has shown that they consume more energy than new ones.

The sector minister further asked entities to redeem their indebtedness to the Electricity Company of Ghana, as part of efforts to enhance the financial capacities of agencies of the energy sector.

Dr Prempeh said this will ensure seamless service delivery by the company.

The CEOs Chamber was instituted in the year 2017 as a platform for peer review and experience sharing.

The activities of the chamber have been consolidated by the State Interests and Governance Authority (SIGA).