Should Eskom be allowed to increase tariffs?

Should Eskom be allowed to increase tariffs if it means no more government bailouts?

  • Yes

    Votes: 31 15.2%

  • No

    Votes: 163 79.9%

  • Other

    Votes: 10 4.9%
  • Total voters
    204
I voted Other - Eskom's tariffs are actually cheap (at least, their cost of production.)

We are getting price gouged by Municipalities.
 
Other: "allowed" is a curious term in a free market, but then again Eskom isn't a private company and would not be standing today without bailouts (nor would it ever have been built without taxpayer funds way back when)

If Eskom wants the privileges that come with being a private company e.g. determining its own fees, then it must first become a private company

If Eskom does not want to be a private company, then it remains subject to the whims of our corrupt, populast, guavamint

The most efficient way forward imo is:
- complete liquidation of Eskom
- government eats the loss of its asinine bailouts
- complete privatisation of the electricity generation & distribution business in South Africa
- whoever bought some of Eskom's assets or whoever comes to the party to compete in selling electricity can charge whatever their customers are willing to pay
 
Rouxenator said:
No, they should dig up Thatcher and get her to take the unions back to hell with her - then fire all the redundant staff and lower the price of electricity.

We had some of the cheapest electricity in the world at some stage.
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I remember 20 years ago paying 35 cents
Or was that for a kilolitre of water?
Can't remember, but yeah it was very cheap years ago before that Zuma naai arrived with his looting and stealing
 
Voted no as NERSA decides it and should keep deciding it until power generation is split off. The transmission and distribution sector should still stay regulated as you can't introduce competition there.
 
The only thing ESKOM should be allowed to do is to not exist any more.
 
Yes, but with conditions.

Reduce staff count drastically
Cut contracts with all companies shown to be involved in corruption
Put effective controls in place to prevent things like R200 000 mops going forward
Drop the monopoly

Never going to happen, but before these things are done I can't see how Eskom can justify tariff increases. At this point a massive portion of that tariff increase just goes towards more corruption.
 
Johnatan56 said:
The transmission and distribution sector should still stay regulated as you can't introduce competition there.
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Says who.

Why should I subsidise the transformers that keep being destroyed through illegal connections? Why should I pay for those not paying for their electricity (supplying into a grid with illegal connections still means energy is being lost and further capacity must be provided to cater for it at an obvious cost)?

Let Eskom collapse trying to manage that mess and I'll buy from the private supplier that doesn't entertain that garbage.
 
Arthur said:
Of course it should "be allowed" to increase tariffs. In my view, it's unjust and even immoral to use the power of the law to coerce or prevent what should otherwise be free commercial decisions.

But that's not all. In saying this, much else also needs to change.

For the very same reasons, all the laws that restrict, curtail, limit and forbid others from competing with Eskom must be scrapped forthwith. A state-entrenched monopoly or near-monopoly on any commercial activity - including the generation, distribution and resale of electricity - is in my view ipso facto unjust. It robs citizens of their basic and natural right to engage in uncoerced commerce, entrenches inefficiency and rent-seeking, and violates the basic precepts of a just and rational economic, legal, and political order.

So, yes. Eskom should not be prevented from doing as it pleases with its pricing. But neither should there be legal constraints on anyone else from generating their own electricity and reselling it to others in a free and open market.

The problem is Leviathan. We have too much State.

Of course, I know the chances of that changing are less than 0.01%. We're trapped in our own Statist thinking and self-inflicted powerlessness.
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Arthur said:
BRILLIANT! A great answer. If only those actions were truly followed the country would be economically unbelievably successful.
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superlekkerza said:
Increasing tarrifs is the ONLY WAY to avoid national blackoutS. Eskom is in such a bad, bad shape. Basically, we are its life support
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Quite true. First off, though, consumers need to know that the tariff increases will be used to fix the mess not supply luxury living to those whose hands are in the till.
 
other.

If eskom shows its trying to make changes (finding alternative, cheaper suppliers and cutting down on its bloated staff and changing its procurement structure, etc), then the increase is justified.

If they still carry on like this, then no way is the increase justified
 
No, get rid of the excess staff bleeding the company and country and most of your problems will be solved.
 
Arthur said:
For the very same reasons, all the laws that restrict, curtail, limit and forbid others from competing with Eskom must be scrapped forthwith. A state-entrenched monopoly or near-monopoly on any commercial activity - including the generation, distribution and resale of electricity - is in my view ipso facto unjust. It robs citizens of their basic and natural right to engage in uncoerced commerce, entrenches inefficiency and rent-seeking, and violates the basic precepts of a just and rational economic, legal, and political order.
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You're right, although the problem is that Eskom would likely fall on its face if free market principles were applied instantly. The trick here is phasing in the independent power producers while retaining a sane grid and market. So, you might need to propose, e.g., Eskom may buy power from IPPs at a specified discount for a limited period. That would allow the (presumably more efficient) IPPs to ramp up while Eskom is still able to meet its obligations.
 
Price controls only fall away with removal of monopoly.

And then it depends on what part.. ie generation, distribution and transmission needs to have costing that is transparent for this to happen.
 
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