Eskom is looking at the possibility of increasing electricity tariffs by 18%, South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) news reported on Friday.
Eskom said the cost of building power stations — at R1,13-trillion over the next 20 years — and the rise in coal prices are to blame for the possible increase.
”One power station is about R8-billion. To be able to afford these big cables, what it means is that the cost of electricity we’re accustomed to will have to go up,” said Eskom CEO Jacob Maroga.
Eskom board member Valli Moosa said: ”The reserve margin is not going to improve in the next five to seven years … which means if the demand for electricity continues to increase, there will not be a supply.”
South African Reserve Bank Governor Tito Mboweni said an increase in electricity tariffs would further increase the inflation rate, but the parastatal maintained that the increase is unavoidable and that it will not negatively affect free basic electricity subsidised by the National Treasury.
The National Energy Regulator of South Africa will make a decision on the matter in December, the SABC reported. — Sapa