Cape Town - National energy regulator Nersa was exceeding its mandate by
ordering municipalities to cap electricity charges in the wake of
Eskom's announced tariff increases, Co-operative Governance
Minister Sicelo Shiceka said on Thursday.
"Nersa has said it gives a cap that municipalities can't charge
more than 16% in terms of their own surcharges. We believe
from our side that it is a bit beyond their mandate," he told a
media briefing in Cape Town.
"I will be meeting with the ministers of energy, the minister of
public enterprises and Nersa itself to say 'let's discuss this
thing because it is going to have devastating implications to
municipalities', because you can't just wake up in the morning to a
person who has been getting R35 and say you are getting R16 now.
How do we address the shortfall?"
He warned the regulator that the government believed its
decisions "must not determine the sustainability and the viability
of municipalities".
Nersa last month approved a 15.3% tariff increase for
municipalities from July 1, followed by 16.3% in each of the
two subsequent years, even though Eskom's average tariff would rise
by about 25%.
It said it would consider applications on a case-by- case basis
by municipal distributors, which instituted a different increase to
the 31% approved by Nersa in the last round of tariff hikes.
- Sapa