Eskom responds to panic over R938 service fee for solar users

 ·22 Jul 2022

Eskom says it is not aware of any proposal to hike its fixed connection service fees as high as R938 for some customers, as confusion and anger over the figure grows.

Data provided to MyBroadband by Eskom in July laid out the power utility’s intent to change its tariff structures in such a way that households who use less power pay higher fees.

Under Eskom’s current fee structure, variable and fixed costs accumulated in producing electricity are paid for through a single electricity tariff — calculated per kWh of consumption.

Eskom told MyBroadband that tariffs need to be modernised to reflect the changing electricity environment to ensure fair recovery by all of the services to be provided by all grid users and the system.

While solar power users are not specifically mentioned or targeted by Eskom in its data, any households that make a concerted effort to lower their dependency on Eskom’s grid, and end up using less grid power as a result, would invariably draw the higher charges laid out in the proposal.

Eskom’s own data shows that solar or any other own-generation consumer using 0 kWh of Eskom’s electricity will currently pay a R218 fixed connection fee.

Under the proposed tariff structure, such a household would pay an additional R720 – taking the total charge to R938.

Speaking to Cape Talk, Eskom spokesperson Sikonathi Mantshantsha said that there has not been any formal application to hike the fees as laid out in the proposal – adding that he was not even aware that such a proposal exists.

Describing the reported figures as “hearsay”, Mantshantsha said Eskom cannot provide an explanation for the proposed increase, as it is not part of any formal application.

“Eskom has not made any application (to Nersa). There (has also been) mention of a 32% tariff hike application – Eskom will only be submitting its application in August,” he said.

“What I can confirm, is that in the bill that anyone pays and everyone pays, there is a fixed charge of about R218 for a fixed connection line,” he said.

“Whoever is talking about a R938 charge would have seen a proposed document, which I have not seen, so I am not in a position to talk about that. When it has been submitted in August, then it will be a public document that we can talk about.”

Mantshantsha said that Eskom cannot unilaterally decide what it wants to charge customers and that its application process is a public one. But until the application has been made, there is nothing to discuss.

Not new

Eskom’s apparent ignorance of the proposal is confusing, as the power utility’s desire or intent to charge low-use customers, like solar users, has been around since 2019 – and has been included in formal applications to Nersa.

The data provided to MyBroadband in July was based on a proposal for the previous financial year – 2020/2021 – the overall approach remains the same for the new tariff proposal that Eskom plans to submit to Nersa in August 2022, it said.

As reported in 2021, in a presentation to Nersa, Eskom cited the problems caused by consumers who generate their own electricity using solar power in the home.

Consumers use solar to generate most of their electricity during the day, which Eskom argues forces it to ramp up at a faster rate to meet evening demand. This has a significant negative impact on the power system, Eskom said at the time.

It has also reiterated that its current tariffs do not reflect the costs required to run the national grid and supply customers with power.

While ignorant of the tariff changes in the coming August submission, Mantshantsha did say that the application would propose a way for solar users and other own-generation customers to feed back and sell excess generation to the grid.

“Eskom will be applying to Nersa to allow customers who are generating their own power but are also connected to the grid, to sell the electricity to Eskom. If approved by Nersa, things will go both ways – you will get credit for the electricity you are distributing to the grid,” he said.


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