NERSA HEARINGS
HILARY JOFFE: Eskom is quietly bidding to recoup R67bn
Nersa hearings raise important policy issues, such as who should pay for the regulatory clearing account and with what implications?
Eskom’s application to its regulator to claw back almost R67bn it had overspent on what the regulator had allowed it during the middle three years of its most recent tariff period has attracted relatively little attention. That is in contrast to the 20% interim application it put in to the National Energy Regulator of SA (Nersa) earlier in 2018 that attracted huge controversy and elicited a 5.2% award from the regulator. Yet if the regulator were to agree to the current application as is, that would mean a total tariff increase of as much as 35%. True, Eskom has proposed a five-year phase-in period from 2019-20 to recover the money, in the unlikely event the regulator agrees to it. Nersa’s stern response earlier in 2018 to Eskom’s interim tariff application suggests the regulator has become increasingly intolerant of the power utility’s constant pleas for more money to cover cost overruns.But whatever money it agrees to would still be on top of whatever regular tariff increases the ...
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