Times Of Swaziland: ELECTRICITY PRICING TO BE REVIEWED

ELECTRICITY PRICING TO BE REVIEWED
================================================================================
BY KWANELE DHLADHLA  on 26/06/2018 03:39:00


MBABANE – A cost relief is on the cards for electricity users in the Kingdom
of Eswatini.
This will be necessitated by the issued notice for consultants from suitably
qualified service providers to undertake a comprehensive review of a tariff
methodology for the Swaziland Electricity Supply Industry on behalf of the
Swaziland Energy Regulatory Authority (SERA).
The main focus is to expand the current methodology used to determine end-user
tariffs to include generation and transmission. The tariff methodology will also
be aligned to current industry developments which have seen more companies such
as Tambuti Estate which recently got granted an exemption by the regulator to
generate their own solar power.
Licenced
SERA, whose core function is to regulate and approve tariffs, charges and
conditions of services provided by licenced entities, currently uses a tariff
methodology developed in 2011 to determine end-user user (distribution) tariffs
which were last increased by 15 per cent in February 2017 for the 2017/18 and
2018/19 financial years.
SERA Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Vusi Mkhumane said the developments within
the electricity industry had necessitated a review of the current methodology
with an aim of expanding it for use in determining generation and transmission
tariffs.
“The ultimate objective of the study will be to align the tariff methodology
with the latest trends,” said Mkhumane.
The study will be undertaken on behalf of SERA by a consultant, who will be
responsible for studying the existing methodology and its accompanying models,
spreadsheets and manuals in order to ascertain inbuilt shortcomings.