DA will fight Eskom's plans to make solar panel users pay more for electricity

28 January 2021

The Democratic Alliance (DA) will file its own submissions with the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA) opposing plans by Eskom to introduce a split energy tariff system that will punish solar panel users by making it more expensive to generate their own electricity.

Eskom’s latest application for a review of electricity tariffs proposes a new tariff system in which it plans to split energy tariffs into fixed and variable costs, which would increase the cost of independent power generation and force people to use Eskom for their energy needs.

This anti-competitive behaviour by Eskom is reprehensible and could be in violation of South Africa’s competition laws. Eskom is trying to use its market dominance to bully private households generating power ‘for own use’ by increasing the cost of solar power use.

Eskom has been an unreliable source of electricity for more than a decade and its plans to force people to rely on its unreliable power supply is simply ridiculous. South Africans cannot be expected to continue subsidising a failing company that has become a hindrance to the country’s development.

The DA’s submissions to NERSA will make it clear that Eskom’s proposals must be rejected outright and the right of private citizens to generate their own power without being bullied be protected at all costs. Eskom has to accept that its monopoly is over and its time that it stopped its bullying tactics in the energy sector.

Issued by Ghaleb Cachalia, DA Shadow Minister Public Enterprises, 28 January 2021