Eskom’s bid to have parts of its 53% tariff-increase application withheld from the public is to protect its position in ”hardcore” coal sales deals, the company said on Tuesday.
Eskom spokesperson Andrew Etzinger said that without this stance, the company might have to pay more for coal, pushing the price of electricity up even more.
The company is currently in negotiations with mining houses to buy about R45-million-worth of coal, currently at a spot price of about $100 a ton, compared with about R100 a ton about two years ago, said Etzinger.
”Unfortunately this means that discussions are hardcore. We are not talking about 1% or 2% here or there, so we have to make sure our negotiating position is as strong as possible.”
The company’s application to the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa), an edited version of which is expected on the Nersa website on Tuesday, contains details of deals that have already been concluded, he said.
”It is a sound commercial decision not to disclose the information about the … contracts that are captured in our application. It would compromise Eskom’s position at the negotiating table,” said Etzinger.
This also applied to information on its demand-side management programme energy-saving campaign.
The company has put several energy-saving initiatives out to tender as part of its bid to avert the current power shortages that have led to rostered electricity cuts.
”We don’t want to reveal the negotiating targets because we will find it difficult to manoeuvre … the dynamics are quite serious.”
The entire tariff application was to have been posted on the Nersa website for public comment and subsequent hearings.
Solidarity said that if the full report was not published it would consider legal remedies, on the grounds that the public is entitled to see Eskom’s full motivation for the tariff increase. — Sapa