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The Managing Director of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), Reverend William Hutton Mensah, has bemoaned the high rate of energy theft and customers� unwillingness to pay bills promptly as challenges that affect the company�s work. Energy theft He stressed that energy theft was a serious canker which led to high system losses. Rev. Mensah expressed the concern at the inauguration of a district office for the ECG at a ceremony at Akyem Oda. He said the ECG had worked hard to bring down the system losses from a high 27 per cent in 2011 to about 23 per cent by December 2013. The ECG was currently collaborating with the Ghana Police Service and the Judiciary to apprehend and prosecute culprits who stole power, adding that some courts had, therefore, been established to handle electricity cases. Rev. Mensah said the business of supplying electricity was capital intensive and there was the need for customers to pay their bills in full to empower ECG to serve them better. He re-echoed the call for energy conservation, and appealed to all Ghanaians to switch off air conditioners, deep freezers, fridges and all high-consuming electrical appliances during the peak period between 7p.m. and 11p.m. and also when the World Cup matches were being played He disclosed that 45 more communities in the Oda area had recently been connected to the national grid through the National Electrification Programme, bringing the total number of connected communities within the Oda District catchment area to 128. Offices He said the office at Oda, which was financed under the Ghana Energy Development and Access Project (GEDAP), stood as a testimony to the ECG�s resolve as a company to deliver quality service to the cherished customers. Rev. Mensah revealed that the ECG�s target this year was to complete and inaugurate 21 modern district offices, as well as customer service centres and regional offices which were at advanced stages of completion. The acting Eastern Regional General Manager of the ECG, Mr A. Anokye Abebreseh, earlier in a welcome address, said the springing up of new regional and district offices all over the country was an indication of the changing face of the company. Concern The Queen of the Akyem Kotoku Traditional Area, Nana Akua Asantewaa, who chaired the function, expressed concern about the intermittent power outages in the country which were collapsing many companies, and urged the management of the ECG to take realistic measures to reverse the trend.