MIDVAAL. – Midvaal Local Municipality Mayor Peter Teixeira has once again spoken against the astounding 18,65% tariff increase by the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA), saying it will further plunge millions of citizens into poverty.
Teixeira joins many frustrated residents who have spoken out about the tariff increase, saying that they will simply not be able to afford it.
Teixeira says: “The increase is despite Eskom’s inability to keep the lights on, having recently raised load shedding to Stage 6. We are currently forced to contend with not having electricity for up to 9 hours a day.”
Teixeira states that South Africans will be forced to pay an exorbitant amount for electricity they do not get.
“The increased load shedding stages have an adverse effect on Midvaal Local municipality’s electricity infrastructure and network. It also hinders our ability to attend to power outages which have become a norm due to the surge in energy from constant load shedding. The prolonged rolling blackouts implemented by Eskom also give an opportunity for cable theft and vandalism.”
Teixeira announced that amid the increase by Eskom, Midvaal has approved the embedded generation policy to allow large energy customers to generate their own electricity during commercial hours.
“The municipality is in the process of introducing a feed-in tariff for solar users to pump energy into our grid. We will set up a control room to allow safe energy import into our grid at a fair price for our customers. We will engage with Eskom to compile a wheeling agreement for Independent Power Producers to pump energy into Midvaal.”
The municipality says it is also working on making its tariffs more cost effective.
“The municipality has already shown efficiency in cutting electricity losses from 18% to 9%. This will allow Midvaal to individually apply for less increases during tariff increases, bringing financial relief to residents. Midvaal has instructed that a feasibility study into the Renewable Energy project be accelerated and presented to Council for decision-making.
“The Municipal Manager has been instructed to establish a task team to expedite all processes regarding establishing a feasible and viable renewable energy project,” Teixeira said.
Eskom has since welcomed the tariff increase, saying that it acknowledges that it was a tough call by NERSA.
“The decision will positively contribute on a sustainability and financial point of view. The revenue determination of 319 billion and 352 billion for the 2024/25 financial year will allow further migration towards a price level that reflects the efficient cost of producing electricity,” says Calib Cassim, Eskom’s Chief Financial Officer.
