The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) announced on Tuesday that Eskom would be allowed recover the R32.7-billion already approved as part of its adjudication of three separate Regulatory Clearing Account (RCA) applications over a four-year period, beginning in the 2019/20 financial year.

The RCA balance was determined following public hearings convened by the regulator earlier this year.

The hearings dealt with RCA submissions for three of the five years covered by the Third Multi-Year Price Determination (MYPD3) period, which ended on March 31, 2018.

Through the process, Eskom sought to recover nearly R67-billion through the applications that dealt with RCA balances for the 2014/15, 2015/16 and 2017/18 financial years.

At a meeting of the Energy Regulator on September 26, it was decided that an RCA amount of R31.1-billion would be recovered from standard-tariff customers, with the R1.6-billion balance to be recouped from negotiated pricing agreement (NPA) customers, as well as international customers.

Eskom will recover R8.2-billion from standard-tariff customers for the 2019/20, 2020/21, 2021/22 and 2022/23 financial years. The yearly amount to be recovered from the NPA and international customers over the same period will be R396-million.

The regulator’s determination on the liquidation of the RCA balances will result in Eskom’s 2019/20 tariff rising by 4.41%, before any other possible adjustments that could arise as a result of an impending tariff application, to be adjudicated later this year. The application, known as MYPD4, will cover a three-year horizon to March 31, 2022.

Moneyweb has reported that Eskom will apply for average tariff increase of 15% a year for the next three years. However, Eskom’s official submission to Nersa is yet to be published.

Meanwhile, Eskom has approach the courts to have Nersa’s tariff determination for 2018/19 set aside.

The action represents Eskom’s first-ever legal challenge of a Nersa ruling and follows the regulator’s decision to grant Eskom a 5.23% increase from April 1, 2018. The utility applied for an increase of 19.9% as part of a one-year revenue application.