The down-turn in the economy has led to a drop in the amount of electricity sold by producer Eskom, which could lead to tariffs going up, MPs heard on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
According to figures tabled at a meeting of Parliament’s public enterprises portfolio committee, there has been a 7.44% drop in the amount of electricity sold by Eskom this year (up to February 8) compared to the same period last year.<\/p>\n
In terms of the current financial year, electricity sales are down 3.18% compared to the previous year.<\/p>\n
"You can expect that by the end of the financial year, the decline in sales from year to year will have been somewhere around two-and-a-half to three percent," public enterprises deputy director-general Chris Forlee told members during a briefing on Eskom.<\/p>\n
The drop in electricity sales meant Eskom would under-recover on its costs, he said.<\/p>\n
Speaking on the effects the drop in demand would have on Eskom’s costs, public enterprises director-general Portia Molefe said if volumes went down, tariffs would go up.<\/p>\n
"It is definitely a cause for concern," she said.<\/p>\n
Committee chairperson Fatima Chohan noted that government had for months been calling on consumers to save electricity.<\/p>\n
"It’s a double-edged sword," she said.<\/p>\n
Forlee said talks with mines and heavy industry showed many firms had reduced production, which had caused a big drop in electricity consumption.<\/p>\n
"But a lot of them have indicated that as soon as things pick up, they will ramp back up. That could happen very quickly," he said.<\/p>\n
Eskom plans to spend R385bn over the next five years, most of which will go towards generation, transmission and distribution infrastructure.<\/p>\n
Forlee said spending on new power stations was essential to push Eskom’s reserve margin from a current five percent to between 15% and 19%. <\/p>\n