Photo by: D
The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) has postponed a briefing, scheduled for Thursday, February 25, to announce the outcome of its deliberations on Eskom’s Regulatory Clearing Account (RCA) application – it would now make its determination known on Tuesday, March 1.
The regulator said in a statement that the postponement was necessary, because of “further verification that needs to be conducted on certain information”.
Through its RCA submission, Eskom is seeking to recoup R22.8-billion in revenue and cost variances for the 2013/14 financial year; the first year of a five-year multiyear price determination period, which runs until March 31, 2018
The largest single component of the clawback request relates to an R11.7-billion revenue variance, while the second-largest claim arises from Eskom’s use of R8-billion more in diesel than the R2.5-billion sanctioned for the year.
Nersa received Eskom’s application in late 2015 and held public hearings in many provinces in late January and February, 2016.
Stakeholders generally urged the regulator not to approve the application, which could result in electricity tariffs increasing by nearly 17% from April 1, instead of the 8% already sanctioned for the year.