NERSA: Municipal tariff increases

The May 2010 edition of this bulletin contained an article advising of a NERSA public hearing to be convened on 3 June 2010 to consider applications from municipalities that had applied for average tariff increases exceeding the published NERSA guidelines. Due to the high number of municipalities summoned to make presentations, the hearing was extended to take place over two days. A copy of the NERSA notice is available here.

SALGA has recently indicated its disappointment at the `way in which the municipal electricity tariffs approval process was handled this year’. The letter dated 21 June 2010 to the Chairperson of NERSA from the Chairperson of SALGA, and copied to the Minister of Energy, indicated SALGA’s serious concern at the impact the process has had on municipal budgeting and suggests that NERSA give consideration to approving all applications for municipal tariff increases for 2010/11 as submitted and `factor in’ any clawback in the next tariff allocation cycle. This is to prevent any municipalities implementing `illegal tariffs’ with effect from 1 July 2010. A copy of the SALGA letter is available here.  

An Engineering News Online article published in its 5 June 2010 edition provides comment on some `research’ carried out by a consulting company supposedly highlighting `big disparities’ in municipal tariffs. No detail is however included on events at the NERSA hearings. A copy of this article is available here.