Energy Committee briefed on Eskom tariff decision
Yesterday, the Portfolio Committee on Energy received a briefing from the National Energy Regulator of SA (NERSA) on its decision on Eskom’s regulatory clearing account application for the first year of the third Multi-Year Price Determination (MYPD3) for 2013/14.
NERSA announced last week that that it would not grant Eskom the R22.8 billion variance it had requested for the costs incurred in the production of electricity in the 2013/14 financial year. It has instead approved an amount of R11.241 million, which amounts to a 9.4% tariff increase for the 2016/17 financial year.
Members of the Committee questioned if the delays on the build programme had an effect on the increases of the MYPD process. The Committee also enquired if Eskom had done everything in its power to avoid cost overruns and how prudent the power utility had been in incurring the cost overruns.
The Committee said the R50 billion that Eskom would try and claim for the next two years was a serious amount and the Members of the Committee were of the view that management issues at Eskom ran deep and the Regulatory Clearing Account that the power utility would be claiming was quite perturbing.
The Committee welcomed the decision by NERSA that would require municipalities to apply to NERSA for their tariff increases before 1 July. The Committee is of the view that municipalities cannot have tariff increases that are open ended.
For media enquiries or interviews with the Chairperson, please contact:
Yoliswa Landu
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