Eskom wants to charge you almost R1000 for NOT using electricity
19 July 2022
Eskom’s plan, through its latest tariff application to the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA), to require that on-grid solar users pay R938 per month even if they don’t use its electricity is extortionate and violates consumer rights.
Instead of incentivising small scale embedded generation to relieve pressure on the grid and alleviate loadshedding, Eskom appears determined to punish homeowners and businesses who want to install solar systems as an alternative power source. This is regressive and negates every claim that the government has said about opening up the grid to independent power producers.
Faced with the prospect of assured relegation to the fringes of South Africa’s electricity market, due to its own inefficiencies and moribund business model, Eskom now wants to hang on to its failing monopoly through consumer extortion.
The origin of this ill-thought extortionate idea can be traced to the doorstep of South Africa’s failing energy Minister, Gwede Mantashe. His latest fantasy for an Eskom 2.0 is a clear evidence that he is unable to comprehend that any Eskom model, in whatever form, will not solve South Africa’s electricity crisis.