DA to protest NERSA's electricity tariff hike ahead of public hearings on Eskom
Eskom's multi-year application seeks to increase the cost of electricity to its customers by 36% next year.
FILE: Eskom's Megawatt Park in Johannesburg. Picture: Eyewitness News
CAPE TOWN - Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis will lead the Democratic Alliance (DA)'s protest against Eskom’s annual application for another electricity tariff hike for 2025, ahead of Monday's public hearings by the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA).
Eskom's multi-year application seeks to increase the cost of electricity to its customers by 36% next year.
That's on top of a four per cent increase already granted by NERSA to clawback losses of R8 billion in the 2021/22 year.
In its application to NERSA, Eskom says the average price of electricity still does not cover the full efficient costs, nor the cost of capital.
It's applying for a 36.1% increase in the 2025/26 financial year, and a further 11.8% in the following year.
But the DA is having none of it.
READ: City of Cape Town to oppose 44% tariff hike at NERSA public hearings
It's already gathered 200,000 signatures against the proposed increase and says it will lead Monday’s protest outside the hotel in the CBD where the first round of countrywide hearings will take place.
"This petition signals the frustration of those grappling daily with the economic and social impacts of sky-high electricity, the cost of living crisis, a recent history of devastating load shedding and unreliable power supply in hundreds of municipalities," said the DA's spokesperson on Energy and Electricity, Kevin Mileham.
Among those who will make submissions at the public hearings are civil society groups the Green Connection and the Southern African Faith Communities' Environment Institute (SAFCEI), the South African Local Government Association (SALGA), City of Cape Town and the Swartland Municipality.