New ‘anti-load shedding’ regulations published for South Africa
The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy has published the Electricity Regulation Amendment (ERA) Bill for public comment.
These ‘far-reaching’ amendments will enable a competitive market for electricity generation and the establishment of an independent state-owned transmission company, the president said in his state of the nation address on Thursday evening (10 February).
The Electricity Regulation Amendment (ERA) Bill proposes several amendments to the existing Electricity Regulation Act, and aims to broaden the national regulatory framework for the electricity supply industry.
“They align the country with the international best practice in energy and provide for the functions of a Transmission System Operator, and for a licensing framework for power generation, transmission, distribution and trading,” the department said in an accompanying statement.
“The proposed amendments form part of several steps the country is taking to reform the electricity sector towards achieving a stable and secure supply of energy. They will also strengthen the performance of the electricity industry and ultimately create a conducive environment towards growing the economy.”
Ramaphosa said that Eskom will begin its unbundling process by the end of the year.
“Eskom has established a separate transmission subsidiary and is on track to complete its unbundling by December 2022. The utility has continued with its intensive maintenance programme, to reverse many years of neglected maintenance and underperformance of existing plants,” he said.
Draft Electricity Pricing Policy (EPP)
The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy has also published the draft Electricity Pricing Policy (EPP) for public comment.
Similar to the ERA bill, the draft policy proposes changes for South Africa’s electricity sector but is primarily focused on end-user costs.
“The revised EPP seeks to strike a balance in providing affordable electricity tariffs for low-income consumers and a cost-reflective electricity tariff for all other consumers.
“The policy provides the general pricing principles, the wholesale energy and transmission pricing structure, and the distribution and retail pricing structure,” the department said.
Read: South Africa needs to deal with its ‘Eskom problem’: IMF
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