You are paying off TCLM’s Eskom debt
A statement released by TCLM last night indicated that the covert "amp charge" being deducted from resident's prepaid electricity purchases is an attempt by the governing body to accumulate funds to pay off the R760 million owed to Eskom.
LYDENBURG – The ratepayers of Thaba Chweu Local Municipality (TCLM) are being mulcted for the outstanding and indebted Eskom account incurred by the municipality.
Steelburger/Lydenburg News reported yesterday (Thursday) that residents became aware of a charge being applied to all households that purchased prepaid electricity for the new month.
The so-called “amp charge” led to an uproar within the community with a total shutdown march planned for Saturday.
READ: Candid prepaid charge has residents seething
A statement released by TCLM last night indicated that the covert “amp charge” being deducted from resident’s prepaid electricity purchases is an attempt by the governing body to accumulate funds to pay off the R760 million owed to Eskom.
The statement said that: “The community of TCLM is fully aware that the municipality has been struggling to service the Eskom account which continues to escalate. The municipality with the assistance of a Government Support Programme (GIZ) conducted a cost of supply study to diagnose the problem with the costs of buying from Eskom and distributing to the communities.
“The study revealed that our electricity tariffs are not cost-reflective, in simple terms meaning the municipality is buying at Eskom at a higher tariff and selling to consumers at a lower tariff, which is against the basic requirements of budgeting to ensure the sustainability of the service”.
TCLM went further to state that during the 2018/19 financial year it submitted the cost of supply study to Nersa for approval. However, to date, no formal response was received from Nersa.
It said the cost of supply advised that it phase in tariffs over five years to minimise the impact that this might have on the community.
“The new tariffs compared to previous years introduced a capacity charge (amp charge) for all consumers above 20 amperes. This grants an opportunity to households who are not consuming too much electricity to reduce their ampere capacity to either 20 or 40 amps. This will reduce the amount payable when buying electricity.”
TCLM went further to justify the current charge by saying that the new tariffs got rid of the block tariffs which will “save consumers money”.
It argued that block tariffs became expensive when electricity is bought multiple times within a month.
TCLM said that with the new tariffs the sliding scale for electricity purchases throughout the month is avoided.
“In conclusion, the municipality is at a position of turning around its financial problems through the implementation of the financial recovery plan. To fund the Eskom repayment plan, the new tariffs must be welcomed by our community or Eskom will be justified in implementing load-shedding which will have more dire consequences on the community. We hope that the community will support us to ensure that we keep the lights on as we turn the finances of this municipality around.”
How the new charge will affect households:
This charge will be deducted from the household’s first electricity purchase every month. Electricity is charged at R1,95 per unit. On a connection with less than 20 ampere, a charge of R61,41 will be applicable. On a connection of 40 ampere it is R122,82 and on a 60 ampere a charge R184,23 per month.
