Consumers will be hit with a 12,7% electricity tariff hike next year, the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) announced on Friday.
Nersa approved Eskom’s plans to recoup losses after it had under-recovered money during the multi-year-price-determination 2 (MYPD2) control period between 2010 and 2013.
“Nersa announced today [Friday] that it has approved the implementation plan of the Regulatory Clearing Account [RCA] balance of R7,8m for Eskom Holdings SOC Limited,” Nersa said in a statement.
“The RCA balance will be a once-off recovery from the standard tariff customers as well as other Eskom customer categories and will only be implemented in the 2015/16 financial year.”
This meant consumers would pay an extra four percent on top of the eight percent hike approved under the MYPD3 control period.
“The implementation of the second multi-year-price-determination [MYPD2] RCA in 2015/2016 will result in an average tariff increase of 12,69% for standard customer tariffs from the eight percent approved in the MYPD3 decision of February 2013.”
Nersa approved the RCA balance in July.
The RCA is a regulatory mechanism that allows Eskom to adjust for over- or under-recovery of revenue, as initial price determinations are based on projections and assumptions. — Sapa