Energy plus politics seldom equal rationality
Taxpayers can have their say on a policy that avoids the least-cost option and entrenches Eskom’s dominance, writes Mike Levington
After a year of prevarication on the publishing of the Integrated Resource Plan (IRP), the government has given the public an opportunity to interrogate its thinking on the technologies it says will meet SA’s electricity needs. The IRP is, in theory, intended to define our optimal energy choices over the medium- to long-term — in this case until 2050. This road map is critical because, in planning the country’s energy path, the IRP ought to ensure energy affordability to its citizens, many of whom still do not have access to what many of us take for granted. Almost everyone’s first question on hearing of its release was: "Is there nuclear in it?" The answer was an unequivocal yes — and even more than the 9.6GW originally anticipated in the IRP 2010. It is at this point that the waters divide along a number of ideological fault lines. The IRP process is supposed to be a rational tool that balances the country’s future energy needs with sustainability and affordability. The IRP "engi...
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