Chamber to fight Eskom’s attempt to claw back R27.2bn from consumers

The Nelson Mandela Bay Business Chamber has vowed to fight Eskom’s bid to claw back billions of rand from consumers.

The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) has started public hearings in all provinces as the cash-strapped power utility seeks to recover R27.2bn for costs incurred in the 2018/19 financial year.

Port Elizabeth hosts the second scheduled hearing today at the Protea Hotel in Summerstrand at 9.30am.

Chamber CEO Nomkhita Mona said it would fight against any attempt to increase electricity tariffs in the interests of the economy of the region.

“To this end, we will attend the regional Nersa hearings on behalf of business, the citizens and stakeholders of Nelson Mandela Bay,” Mona said.  

“We will continuously engage with the National Energy Regulator of South Africa’s public hearings into Eskom’s latest Regulatory Clearing Account (RCA) application.

The regulatory clearing account is a monitoring and tracking mechanism that compares  certain uncontrollable costs and revenues assumed in the multiyear price determination for Eskom, with actual costs and revenues incurred by the power producer.

BusinessLIVE quoted energy expert Ted Bloem on Monday as saying that if Nersa were to approve the full R27.2bn requested by Eskom, this would result in an electricity tariff increase of  more than 10%. 

Mona said the chamber had rejected Eskom’s application.

“We wish to raise our concerns that additional electricity hikes would further undermine the outlook for the struggling economy of Nelson Mandela Bay — and indeed, SA as a whole.

She said any future increases would make electricity increasingly unaffordable for households and businesses.

Mona said though the chamber would attend the Port Elizabeth hearing, its written and verbal representations would only be made on February 21 in Midrand.

This, she said, would be part of a collective voice of business.

“This hearing in Gauteng will include some representatives and representation from a host of prominent business organisations and chambers of commerce around the country.

“We believe it is necessary to add the voice of business in Nelson Mandela Bay to this collective voice of business in SA,” she said.

“We would also like to urge all members of the public, and all responsible stakeholders to attend the meeting in Port Elizabeth.” — Herald Reporter