Revised Electricity Pricing Policy will address various issues in SA's electricity sector, says Ramokgopa

[porchrat]

As much as we blame Eskom imagine if Muni's ran their stuff properly and gave Eskom the 110 billion or whatever they owed and managed to police the illegal connections etc. I can see leccy being cheaper.

That's a recent thing. It's also a drop in the bucket compared to the pre-Covid nearly half a trillion in debt Eskom managed to rack up while fscking around during the construction of Medupi and Kusile.

 

[denmendez65]

100% correct.

I first bought some water tanks and pumped them into the house as a backup. I then bought more tanks and can often go 1-2 months without touching municipal water. Same with solar (95% off grid on an annual basis). Started with the idea of protecting my family from the ANC run metro/SOE and then moved to take away revenue from them. I also take my time to settle my rates account just before they start charging interest. I'll push back as much as I can.

Exactly. Pay as little as possible for everything from tax to things like this. Whatever legal way you can reduce the money you give gvt, do it!

 

[denmendez65]

That's a recent thing. It's also a drop in the bucket compared to the pre-Covid nearly half a trillion in debt Eskom managed to rack up while fscking around during the construction of Medupi and Kusile.

And here I thought you and @Lupus are Eskom supporters

 

[porchrat]

And here I thought you and @Lupus are Eskom supporters

You are misinformed.

There's a difference between not tolerating flat out lies about Eskom's performance, and being an Eskom supporter.

Plenty to criticise. Even with recent improvements, Eskom's performance is still garbage by international standards, and their history over the last few decades is plagued with mismanagement, corruption and incompetence. They also have basically no plans for growth of the generation fleet over the next 5-10 years. Something that's desperately needed while they phase out their existing coal units.

That doesn't make claims like load reduction in poorly run municipalities being clandestine Eskom load shedding, or that Eskom is burning diesel like mad despite the real burn levels being lower than they've been in decades, any less dishonest and wrong.

Also plenty to praise. Their performance in recent years shows a marked improvement from the absolute cesspit they were back in the constant stage 6 era.

Both criticism and praise where they're valid and justifiable. Not much to ask for.

 

[Flanders]

Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa said the Revised Electricity Pricing Policy, recently approved by cabinet for public consultation, will allow customers to see the true price of electricity.

Sure.

If we saw the true price of electricity then someone would have some 'splainin' to do. More like we'll just see the cost ramp up as out of control as ever.

 

[Jake45]

If you look at this map of the world showing the cost per kWh of electricity I am not very optimistic that the price of electricity will come down any time soon in SA.

Cost of Electricity by Country 2026

Data and analysis on the cost of electricity in each country, including countries where the cost of electricity is highest and countries with the highest electricity costs.

worldpopulationreview.com

In my case the lack of availability of prepaid access is a much bigger concern as it discourages me from using cheaper sources of electricity like solar as I am still forced to pay a monthly grid connection fee of R1500pm to the Jhb CC.

 

[Lupus]

And here I thought you and @Lupus are Eskom supporters

Yes, apparently... And it was defender not supporter

 

[supersunbird]

That's a recent thing. It's also a drop in the bucket compared to the pre-Covid nearly half a trillion in debt Eskom managed to rack up while fscking around during the construction of Medupi and Kusile.

Is the debt still around half a trillion? If so, 20% (said R110 billion) will surely help.

 

[porchrat]

Is the debt still around half a trillion? If so, 20% (said R110 billion) will surely help.

No it's fallen. Somewhere around R300 billion is my understanding.

So today, as a recent phenomenon, the munis not paying is contributing to the problem. It's slowing Eskom's recovery for sure. We need to keep in mind though that it's a relatively recent problem. It's not the historic reason for Eskom's poor performance. It's not the reason Eskom's in the hole it's in in the first place. That was pretty much all self-inflicted with corruption in power station construction and procurement of overpriced brooms.

Don't let Eskom off the hook by blaming municipalities.

 

[Gordon_R]

Is the debt still around half a trillion? If so, 20% (said R110 billion) will surely help.

Google says half of Eskom's debt was paid off by the government (aka taxpayers), supposedly to put them on a stable footing:

The South African government rolled out a landmark R254 billion multi-year debt relief package for Eskom via the 2023 Debt Relief Act. This package aimed to absorb a major portion of the utility's debt and lower its heavy financial pressure, though additional adjustments and amendments (such as the Debt Relief Amendment Bill) continue to adapt funding allocations over time.

 

[Mista_Mobsta]

The sooner you remove your dependency from Eskom and the Government regarding basic services such as electricity and water, the better. Hell, maybe we should all just strive to become experts in waste management and abolish the need for any functional waste water treatment plants as, judging by the state of many SA-town rivers and streams, Government has managed to royally **** that up as well!