ActionSA on Wednesday launched a petition to stop Eskom from increasing the electricity price by 40%, contending that the move would be ridiculous and unreasonable.
“Persistent electricity tariff increases, compounded by economic stagnation and unemployment, has pushed our people deeper and deeper into poverty and despair,” it said.
The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) on Monday published Eskom’s multi-year price determination (MYPD) revenue application up until 2028.
According to Eskom, the application covers the power utility’s financial period beginning on 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2028.
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“Over and above Eskom’s outrageous request for a 36.15% tariff hike from customers, NERSA’s decision to allow Eskom to recover an additional R8 billion from its Regulatory Clearing Account will result in a further 4% tariff increase in 2025, bringing the total tariff increase to over 40% next year,” ActionSA highlighted.
“These escalating prices reflect the unchecked inefficiency of the Eskom monopoly, which continues to pass the cost of its corruption and ineptitude onto the public,” it added.
The party believes that decentralising the energy market is key to addressing the country’s power supply issues. This, it suggested, must be done “by enabling and empowering local governments to create microgrids and renewable energy sources”.
Meanwhile, the state-owned power utility said this application allows for an improvement in the financial sustainability of the company through the migration to cost-reflective prices and the successful operation of Generation, Transmission and Distribution in Eskom.
“Further migration towards cost reflectivity to cover the full cost of capital would be considered in subsequent applications. This would minimise the impact on the taxpayers.”
