A mass of objections to the application, ranging from that it would result in job losses to the environmental costs of Eskom power generation, were raised during the public hearing.
Nersa chairman Jacob Modise said the decision not to grant the increase was also informed by Eskom’s failure to provide a plan for implementation of such an increase.
“The application did not provide the mechanisms on how the proposed increase, if granted, can be implemented in the current financial year in a manner that is consistent with the requirements of the Municipal Financial Management Act.”
But, according to the power utility, the refusal of the increase means it will not be able to afford diesel to power generators so that other power stations can be taken off-line for maintenance.
“And we are not about to go the Greece route and break PFMA [Public Finance Management Act] regulations and borrow money we have no means to pay back,” said Eskom spokesman Khulu Phasiwe.
That means only one thing – weekend load-shedding will be intensified.
Phasiwe said if there was no diesel, weekend load-shedding was a strong possibility. “At the moment weekends are not considered ‘peak periods’, but if there is no extra power then load-shedding can occur.”
He said it was too early to say what the implications of the Nersa decision would be.
“It is back to the drawing board. We will go through Nersa’s recommendations and chart a new way forward. “The available options are either to resubmit our application for the increased tariffs, based on Nersa’s recommendations, or start a new tariff process.”
