Publications
Partners
Last Updated
Live News Feed
29 Jun 2015
Trade union Solidarity, the City of Cape Town and the DA have all lauded the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) for standing firm and showing independence in the face of Eskom’s demands.
FULL STORY
29 Jun 2015
Energy expert Chris Yelland said the decision by Nersa wasn't altogether good news. He told Fin24 that it revealed that Eskom did not fully understand the regulatory environment that it operated in.
29 Jun 2015
Eskom’s application was incomplete and the regulator’s methodology doesn’t allow for so-called selective reopeners of existing pricing decisions, National Energy Regulator of South Africa Chairman Jacob Modise told reporters in Pretoria Monday. The company can apply to recoup costs through its regulatory clearing account or make a full, new request, he said. Nersa “has not closed the door on Eskom,” he said. - Bloomberg.
29 Jun 2015
DA MP Gordon Mackay: Despite ongoing pressure by
government and the ruling alliance, Nersa demonstrated true independence today
by refusing to be strong armed into exorbitant tariff increases that would have
had disastrous consequences for our economy.
29 Jun 2015
Cape Town deputy mayor Ian Neilson:
The
decision means that the tariff increases for the City’s own electricity
customers of 10,82%, as published during our budget process, will be implemented
on 1 July 2015, based on the 14,24% increase of Eskom’s bulk tariffs to
municipalities, as previously approved by Nersa.
29 Jun 2015
Cape Town deputy mayor Ian Neilson:
We
agree that Eskom needs to submit a full application, rather than the selective
‘reopener’ they attempted, in keeping with the regulatory timelines as set down
in legislation.
We
applaud NERSA’s display of independence, openness and integrity in this
process.
29 Jun 2015
Cape Town deputy mayor Ian Neilson:
We
welcome the comments by the Nersa chairperson that Eskom’s application was
incomplete and did not include all of the information required to take a
decision, and that it was not consistent with the requirements of the
Constitution and the Municipal Finance Management Act.
29 Jun 2015
The
City of Cape Town welcomes the decision by Nersa to refuse Eskom’s application for a further increase in
tariff, over that already approved, it said in a statement.
29 Jun 2015
Modise said the application did not indicate savings associated with a "low factor" of existing generation plants, the impact on the changes in the maintenance regime, and following that, poor plant performance.
FULL STORY
29 Jun 2015
Nersa chairperson Jacob Modise: "The application did not align with the credible long-term planning and certainty that the MYPD (multi-year pricing determination) seeks to achieve. Indeed, it works against such."
29 Jun 2015
“The immediate takeaway based on this news is that there might not be an imminent improvement in the severity of load- shedding,” Razia Khan, head of Africa macroeconomic research at Standard Chartered Plc in London, told Bloomberg in an e-mailed note. “This will be bad for growth, and is also a negative for Eskom’s finances.”
29 Jun 2015
Should Eskom decide to submit a new price application, more information will be required for it to be complete, said Thembani Bukula, Nersa’s full-time member for electricity.“What we really require this time is information that is as close to reality,” he said. - Bloomberg.
29 Jun 2015
Treasury spokesperson Phumza Macanda said municipal finance laws required changes in tariffs for services such as water and electricity to be tabled in Parliament by March 15, to come into effect from July 1.“The minister of finance granted an extension ... to allow the minister of public enterprises to table the adjustments by May 15 – which has now been done,” she said.
29 Jun 2015
This brought to an end a week of speculation about how Eskom planned to implement any increase granted after the Treasury barred municipalities from charging consumers the extra tariff until July next year, a development which caught acting chief executive Brian Molefe unaware at Nersa’s public hearings last week.
FULL STORY
29 Jun 2015
Nersa chairperson Jacob Modise criticised the “excessive” increases Eskom had received since 2008.
29 Jun 2015
City Press reporter Moyagabo Maake was also at the Nersa briefing and filed this report:
29 Jun 2015
News24's Adam Wakefield was at the Nersa briefing and filed this report:
29 Jun 2015
DA MP Gordon Mackay: This decision ought to be hailed as
a victory for all electricity consumers, for our economy and for every
unemployed South African.
29 Jun 2015
DA MP and Shadow Minister of Energy Gordon Mackay:
The Democratic Alliance (DA) gladly welcomes today’s decision by the National
Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) to reject Eskom’s application for a
25.3% tariff hike for the 2015-16 financial year.
29 Jun 2015
“The time has
come for Eskom to accept responsibility for its own problems. Several workable
solutions for Eskom’s problems have been raised; solutions that could finally
alleviate the crisis. To charge the public more for electricity is not one of
them,” Reyneke said.
29 Jun 2015
“Never before has
there been such a strong reaction against planned energy tariff hikes. The
increase would have had devastating consequences,” Reyneke said.
29 Jun 2015
According to Deon
Reyneke, head of the Energy Industry in Solidarity, it is encouraging that
Nersa stood firm against Eskom’s demands.
29 Jun 2015
Solidarity: "It is
encouraging that Nersa is forcing Eskom to consider alternatives other than
additional price increases".
29 Jun 2015
Trade union
Solidarity welcomed the decision by Nersa not to allow Eskom to impose any tariff increases.
29 Jun 2015
Eskom:
The increase was to fund higher usage
of open cycle gas turbines (OCGTs) and cover the cost of buying capacity from
the short-term power purchase programme (STPPP) in order to limit the severity
of load shedding and the impact on the economy.
29 Jun 2015
Eskom's Thava Govender says: “We note the decision made by
Nersa, and we will study
the details of the determination and consult with the Shareholder before we can
comment further on its impact”.
29 Jun 2015
Eskom has responded to Nersa's decision to reject its tariff increase: "The
National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) has announced that it would
not grant Eskom the 9.58% tariff increase it had requested in the selective
reopener for the third multi-year price determination (MYPD 3) for the period 1
July 2015 to 31 March 2016."
29 Jun 2015
Nersa has requested that Eskom submit an application for the adjustments in the allowed revenue in accordance with the MYPD methodology; alternatively a new application for the period 01 April 2016 to 31 March 2019 with indicative projections for the period 01 April 2019 to 31 March 2021.
29 Jun 2015
Eskom's first tweet after Nersa's tariff hike rejection: "Eskom regrets to announce that load shedding stage 1 will be implemented from 16h00 to 22h00 today."
29 Jun 2015
Eskom will have to tap debt markets if the state-owned company fails to get the tariff increase it is seeking, Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown was quoted as saying on Monday. "If Nersa doesn't give the increase then Eskom will have to re-examine its finances and go out and borrow," Brown was quoted as saying in the Business Day newspaper.
FULL STORY
29 Jun 2015
Making the announcement in Pretoria before assembled media and officials, chairperson Jacob Modise said there were several reasons as to why Nersa has turned down the application."Some of the commissioning dates have lapsed. No information has been provided by Eskom regarding the new commissioning dates regarding the application. As a result, the energy regulator is unable to assess the required usage and financial impact of the open cycle gas turbines," Modise said.
FULL STORY
29 Jun 2015
Although Eskom was aiming for increases to be implemented almost
nearly immediately if granted, it became apparent in the hearings last
week that any new increase could only come into effect in July next year
because municipalities would not be able to pass the increase on to
their consumers.
29 Jun 2015
Eskom last week came one step closer to receiving R23bn and converting its R60bn
subordinated loan into equity, after the National Council of Provinces
passed the two bills tabled by Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene on Friday.
FULL STORY
29 Jun 2015
Eskom, which imposes rolling blackouts on an almost daily basis due to
inadequate electricity capacity, is facing a funding gap to 2018 of up
to R200bn.
29 Jun 2015
Modise: "The impact of the above mentioned changes cannot be considered in
isolation in terms of other factors such as savings associated with the
operations and or delay of Medupi, Kusile [and other power plants."
29 Jun 2015
Modise said: "Some of the commissioning dates have lapsed. No information has been
provided by Eskom regarding the new commissioning dates regarding the
application. As a result, the energy regulator is unable to assess the
required usage and financial impact of the open cycle gas turbines."
