South Africa’s power supply is “severely constrained” and will remain so for the rest of the week because of technical problems, state-run power company, Eskom said on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
“We have alerted our key industrial customers and have required them to reduce their load by a minimum of 10 percent,” Eskom said in a statement.<\/p>\n
The power utility, which generates, transmits and distributes approximately 95% of the electricity used in South Africa, is currently facing a number of crises, both in terms of its power supply as well as financially.<\/p>\n
Tabling his first Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS),\u00a0Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene committed government to a range of measures aimed at helping Eskom close its funding gap.<\/p>\n
However, extending\u00a0 new debt guarantees for Eskom are not on the table.<\/p>\n
Eskom faces a R225 billion revenue shortfall, partly as a result of being granted lower-than-expected tariff increases, and Nene conceded that the measures he was announcing would not cover this.<\/p>\n
South African energy regulator, Nersa, recently approved Eskom\u2019s plans to recoup losses after it had under-recovered money during the multi-year-price-determination 2 (MYPD2) control period between 2010 and 2013.<\/p>\n
The body approved the regulatory clearing account (RCA) for Eskom, allowing it to recover R7.82 billion in revenue, which would see wholesale tariffs increase by 12.7% in 2015 \u2013 up from the previously sanctioned 8% increase.<\/p>\n
Get ready for a 12.7% electricity price hike<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n SA electricity prices vs Africa vs the world<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n