Whatever further Eskom price increase is finally determined by NERSA is likely only to become effective on 1 September 2015. In addition, Eskom has since applied to NERSA for a further 12,61% increase in its 2015/16 prices (i.e. Eskom increased its prices by 12,69% on 1 April 2015, while municipalities increase their prices on 1 July each year. There are also differing levels of cross-subsidisation between high, medium and low income customers, between large, medium and small customers, and between urban and rural customers.Īll of this results in a wide variance of electricity tariff rates and structures between municipal electricity distributors, and with Eskom Distribution.įurthermore, electricity prices are in a state of flux at this time. Surpluses on the sale of electricity by municipalities also provide different levels of cross-subsidisation of other municipal services, depending on their income from municipal rates and taxes.

In addition, municipalities have different mixes of domestic, commercial and industrial customers embedded within their geographic areas of supply. The reality, however, is that municipalities have different population sizes and densities, and provide different services – with different service levels and cost structures – to different mixes of low, medium and high income and usage domestic customers. It is therefore important that electricity pricing between distributors should be equitable, rational and non-discriminatory. This third article is in response to several reader requests for a wider comparison of domestic electricity prices in South Africa, both between large municipal electricity distributors (to better understand the regional differences between the metros themselves), and between the metros and Eskom (which distributes electricity nationally in areas not previously served by municipalities).ĭomestic electricity customers have no choice as to who supplies them with electricity, because all electricity distributors – Eskom and municipal – are geographic monopolies. In response to these misperceptions, a first article compared Eskom single-phase domestic 20 A and 60 A prepaid meter tariffs with the utility’s single-phase domestic 60 A and 80 A credit meter tariffs, while a second article compared Eskom’s single-phase domestic prepaid and credit meter tariffs with those of City Power. Public misperceptions have not been clarified or assisted by suggestions by the new acting Eskom CEO, Brian Molefe, that Eskom should take over the supply of electricity from all municipalities, and that all Eskom customers – domestic, commercial, industrial, agricultural and transportation – should then be put onto prepaid meter tariffs.

Prepaid meter price