By The Democratic Alliance (DA) in the Free State Province is rejecting the massive 40% electricity hike by the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA) as proposed by the parastatal Eskom during a public hearing in Bloemfontein next week.
Eskom has proposed a retail tariff plan that will include tariff changes and rate increase. The power utility says the primary goal is to ensure that customers only pay for the costs they incur.
However, the DA says it is rejecting the price hike citing high cost of living in South Africa. NERSA will on Monday, 25 November 2024, hold a public hearing in Bloemfontein, where community members will be able to participate and give their contributions towards the tariff hike proposed by Eskom.
“The DA will call on NERSA to reject the tariff hike, which would detrimentally harm millions already struggling with the high cost of living,” said the DA.
The delegation from the DA will be led by DA Free State Provincial Chairperson, Werner Horn MP, DA Free State Deputy Provincial Chairperson, Jafta Mokoena MPL, DA Free State Spokesperson on Cooperative Governance, David Mc Kay MPL, Members of Parliament, Members of the Free State Legislature, and DA Councillors.
Eskom says the proposed tariff changes aim to support an evolving electricity supply industry, ensuring that electricity tariffs reflect NERSA-approved costs for generation, transmission, and distribution services, while considering affordability, fairness, and transparency.
“The electricity supply industry is undergoing fundamental changes that will set the course for economic growth and prosperity in the years ahead. It is therefore vital that as many stakeholders as possible engage with NERSA on the proposed changes to support the determination of tariffs that are as fair as possible for all customers,” said Monde Bala, Eskom Group Executive for Distribution.
“The proposed tariff changes aim to restructure existing tariffs and avoid the creation of unintended subsidies. It is important to note that the tariff restructuring process is separate from Eskom’s current revenue application to NERSA for the 2025 to 2028 period under the MYPD 6 process. Eskom will not generate additional revenue from the proposed tariff restructuring but will rebalance the charges while remaining within the 2024/25 costs already approved by NERSA,” concluded Bala.
The parastatal explained that the application follows similar submissions made to NERSA in 2020 and 2022. However, except for the introduction of the Homeflex tariff, a residential tariff that enables grid connection and energy export for solar Photovoltaic (PV) customers in 2022, none of the previous submissions were approved.
