The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) has confirmed it would consider either scheduling an additional public hearing or extending the deadline for comments on Sasol Gas’s application to set maximum tariffs for piped gas.

This followed an urgent extension request by the Manufacturing Circle on Monday.

Sasol Gas submitted an application to Nersa on December 23, 2012, seeking approval for the maximum price for piped gas for the period March 26, 2014 to June 30, 2017, as well as approval for the tariff for its transmission pipelines for the period March 26, 2014 to June 30, 2015.

Stakeholders were subsequently invited to make verbal representations during the a public hearing scheduled for February 19.

This followed the publishing of the application on Nersa’s website on February 4 to give stakeholders the opportunity to review and submit comments for consideration.

In addition, on February 8, Nersa published both the preliminary maximum gas price and preliminary transmission tariff for public comment, with a closing date for the comments set at March 4.

“This gives stakeholders 30 days from the publication of the application and 23 days from the publication of Nersa’s preliminary assessment, which is aimed at equipping stakeholders to provide even more informed comment,” Nersa said in a statement.

However, the Manufacturing Circle said additional time was needed to allow for consideration of the application by the relevant stakeholders, citing that the notice for the public hearing was only published on February 15.

“This allows stakeholders less than two working days to make preparations in response to what is a highly technical application that will require detailed analysis and canvassing of evidence and opinion,” said Manufacturing Circle CE Coenraad Bezuidenhout.

Meanwhile, Nersa emphasised that presenting at the public hearing would not preclude stakeholders from providing additional written comments by March 4.

“There is no malice on our side to try and prevent people from coming to the public hearing. I would advise stakeholders to contact us requesting an additional date, with a motivation, for our consideration. At the moment, we are looking at our diaries to see if it is possible to slot in another public hearing,” said Nersa regulator member primarily responsible for piped gas Ethèl Teljeur.

While finalised submissions had been requested by March 4, Bezuidenhout asserted that the public hearings constituted a vital element in the processing of a tariff application.

“Owing to the highly technical nature of the application and the far-reaching implications for business costs, it is imperative that manufacturers be afforded a fair opportunity to make meaningful inputs,” he commented.

The organisation claimed that early analysis indicated that, as the application currently stood, certain industrial users could see their gas costs increasing by between 30% and 40% on current pricing.

Sasol Gas said that, while implementation of new standard prices would result in some customers paying more, the actual price that it intended to charge would be lower than the ceiling price for which it had applied.

“This application is the result of an extensive and ongoing consultation process, through which we have sought to balance price and customer retention, while maintaining a sustainable gas industry in South Africa,” said Sasol group media manager Alex Anderson.