Nersa apologises for R54bn tariff error
South Africa’s energy regulator apologised for a R54-billion error in calculating electricity tariffs, a mistake that will be passed on to consumers.
The National Energy Regulator of South Africa, which determines what State power utility Eskom can charge for electricity, announced the miscalculation last month, without providing further details.
On Wednesday, it put the blunder down to a “data input error” that was picked up by Eskom, according to a presentation to lawmakers.
While the mistake had been identified before the tariff determination was made in January, it wasn’t rectified as indicated at the time, and only discovered five months later, the regulator said.
“The error is regrettable; it should not have happened,” it said.
The incident brought into the spotlight South Africa’s surging electricity prices and will result in them increasing by 8.76% in the next financial year, instead of the 5.36% originally agreed, and by 8.83% the year after, compared with 6.19%.
That adds to an eightfold surge in South African electricity costs since 2008, according to the Energy Intensive Users Group, whose members including Anglo American and Glencore account for about 40% of the nation’s electricity consumption.
The EIUG has called for a review of the January tariff decision and asked Nersa to consider its pricing methodology and implementation.
‘’This error by Nersa has been a big blow for the affordability of electricity in this country,” Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa said in an interview.
“Because of it, we have to rethink our overall strategy” on power provision, he said.
Article Enquiry
Email Article
Save Article
To advertise email advertising@creamermedia.co.za or click here
Research Reports
Projects
Latest Multimedia
Latest News
Showroom
From batteries for boats and jet skis, to batteries for cars and quad bikes, SABAT Batteries has positioned itself as the lifestyle battery of...
VISIT SHOWROOM
ROSOND provides fast, efficient, safe, and cost-effective drilling and grouting services to mining and exploration industries throughout Africa.
VISIT SHOWROOM
Press Office
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation
