Is a baseline Electrical Municipal Tariffs possible?
Middelburg Chamber of Commerce & Industry (MCCI) is a member of the Association of South African Chambers of Commerce (ASAC), and we met on 6 May 2021.
The Pietermaritzburg and Nelson Mandela Bay Chambers proposed that NERSA establish a national baseline for the industrial electricity users operating within municipalities.
The ASAC Electricity Sub-Committee has been kept very busy by NERSA in recent months. Earlier in the year, a proposal on Draft Notified Maximum Demand Rules were submitted.
After that, several presentations and submissions were made at the Public Hearing to consider the Application of the Vaal Triangle Forum for revocation or amendment of the electricity
distribution license of Emfuleni Local Municipality. The committee supported this critical matter of precedent. We also submitted a document in February 2021 on the Municipal Dysfunction
– A National Disaster. On 25 March 2021, at the NERSA’s Strategic Planning Workshop – A Customer’s View, we gave input on critical issues
regarding electricity supply and how we believe NERSA should respond.
On 9 April 2021 –2021/2022 Municipal Tariff Disaster – we tabled a submission regarding the municipal tariff guideline increase and benchmarks and proposed
timelines for the municipal tariff approval process for the 2021/2022 financial year. ASAC made an initial submission followed by a presentation at the Public Hearing,
and after that, submitted additional comments. We requested a follow-up meeting with the NERSA Chair, which was supposed to have happed at the 6 May 2021 ASAC meeting.
To give you an idea of the different electricity tariffs at the municipal level see the table below:
| Tariff Comparison 24/5 3 shift scenario 2020 7MVA: 5800 KWh; 37,288 Mwh/annum | Admin | R/Kwh | NDM | Surcharges |
| Jhb MV inc 11KV TOU | 74 093 | 1.86 | N | Y |
| Ekhurhuleni Tariff D (11KV+)TOU | 58 170 | 1.58 | y | N |
| STLM Three-phase 1000v TOU | 49 252 | 1.47 | y | n |
| EThekwini 11KV TOU | 57 359 | 1.29 | Y | N |
The above table is only a summary of the information used; three additional electricity tariff tables’ information is available. However, I used the above examples
to explain the difference in baseline charges at the municipal level throughout South Africa.
At the May ASAC meeting, the members proposed that we submit the EThekwini model as the NERSA baseline for municipal, industrial electricity tariffs.
MCCI supported the proposal. Members interested in further information should contact me at ceo@middelburginfo.com or 013 243 2253.