Thumbs up for NERSA in turning Eskom down

The Southern African Faith Communities Environment Institute (SAFCEI) congratulates NERSA for applying its mind and rejecting Eskom's application for a tariff increase.

According to media reports, Eskom failed to provide key information and failed to comply with the rules.

SAFCEI was one of the multitude of stakeholder organisations who presented at the two days of public hearings. SAFCEI contended that there were options of energy efficiency and load shifting that were not on the table (see SAFCEI's submission to NERSA here). Eskom regards the public as a captive to its monopoly, unable to do anything but pay.

SAFCEI is particularly concerned about the impact of rising electricity prices on the poor. Eskom prices are inflated again when they are passed on to households via municipalities.

"NERSA has shown it has teeth," said SAFCEI spokesperson, Liz McDaid. "We welcome this decision and hope that NERSA will interrogate any further Eskom applications rigorously as part of making sure that Eskom delivers energy in the public interest, efficiently and effectively."