By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Embattled power utility Eskom has asked the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) for a 32.66% price hike.
Nersa has been ordered by the High Court in Pretoria to publish Eskom’s tariff application for 2023/24 on or before 1 August and make a determination by 24 December.
The application is for an increase of 32.66%.
Eskom requested a 20.5% increase in tariffs for 2022-23 towards the end of last year, however, Nersa granted an increase of 9.61%.
This comes against the backdrop of intense load shedding which on 28 June, following labour unrest, escalated to Stage 6 for only the second time ever.
The system has since stabilised to some extent, with load shedding being scaled down to Stage 1 and Stage 2.
The proposed inflation-beating hikes come when consumers are struggling to keep up with the rising cost of living and are also at breaking point following months of load shedding implemented by the state-owned power firm.
The court order follows a settlement between Eskom and Nersa after Eskom challenged Nersa’s earlier decision to reject the application for the 2022/23-2024/25 MYPD5 (multi-year price determination) because it was drafted on the bases of the methodology used for the previous tariff period (MYPD4).
The regulator on 30 June published a discussion paper on its proposed new methodology for comment and will hold a public workshop on 22 July.The closing date for comment is 29 July.
President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Saturday (16 July) that the government and Eskom’s primary focus is to put megawatts on the grid to mitigate the current rolling blackouts the country is experiencing.
The president said Eskom is doing as much as possible while dealing with big machines and equipment that they must properly streamline to generate the energy that the country needs.
Ramaphosa spoke at Tutuka Power Station in Mpumalanga on Saturday, where he conducted an oversight visit accompanied by Public Enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan, Energy and Mineral Resources minister Gwede Mantashe and police minister Bheki Cele.
The president, who was taken on a guided tour of the Tutuka Power Station led by Station General Manager Sello Mametja, was briefed on a number of challenges affecting performance at the plant and the actions being taken to address them.
Meanwhile, Eskom chief executive Andre de Ruyter said that load shedding could be paused by the end of next week. De Ruyter said that some of Eskom’s power stations could be back to generation next week.
The president said that the issues are ongoing as Eskom runs big machines and boilers, which have to be maintained on an ongoing basis. “I am glad that management at Eskom has a program to ensure that there is maintenance that will bring all of the megawatts back into the grid,” he said.
The president said another focus is increasing power generation – to get more power onto the grid.
“Once we have more power onto the grid and get rid of shortfalls and close the gap, we should be able to see the end of load shedding. Even if some breakage or planned maintenance happens and we have the additional megawatts, we should be okay.
“I think the focus has to be on that, we are paying closer attention to maintenance and increasing the megawatts that will get onto the grid. I am glad and pleased with the plans Eskom has in place, we should be able to have a great deal of relief from load shedding in a short space of time,” Ramaphosa said.
Ramaphosa is expected to address the nation soon about emergency steps to address the power crisis and get more energy onto the grid.