RURAL Energy Agency (REA), has cautioned electricity customers to avoid unscrupulous officials who have been taking their money on a promise of putting them on a low usage tariff of electricity.
REA Director of Technical Services, Eng
Bengiel Msofe gave the precaution during a tour to inspect the agency’s
projects in Kilimanjaro, Arusha Manyara and Singida regions
respectively.
Speaking in Manyoni district, Mr Msofe
who accompanied REA Director General Dr Lutengano Mwakahesya, advised
all customers to go to Tanzania Electric Supply Company (TANESCO),
offices to seek for any service to avoid solicitation of bribes. Even as
REA struggles to ensure that people in the rural areas are connected to
electricity services, Mr Msofe expressed his dismay over the higher
charges that domestic customers were incurring.
He said TANESCO should follow the
tariffs that were announced by Energy and Water Utilities Regulatory
Authority (EWURA), tariffs, insisting that many customers under REA
projects were supposed to be on Domestic Low Usage Tariff (D1). D1
category covers domestic customers who on average have a consumption
pattern for 50kWh
. Normally, 50kWh are subsidized by
TANESCO and are not subjected to service charge. Under the category any
unit exceeding 50kwh is charged at higher rate up to 283.4 kWh. In this
tariff category, power is supplied at a low voltage, single phase of
230V.
There have been instances where
customers under REA projects who do not subscribe to huge electricity
consumption, are subjected to General Usage Tariff (T1).
This segment is applicable for customers
who use power for general purposes, including residential, small
commercial and light industrial use, public lighting, and billboards. In
this category the average consumption is more than 283.4 kwh per meter
reading period. Power is given at low voltage single phase (230V).
Other Tariffs are Low voltage Maximum
Demand (MD) usage tariff (T2) and High Voltage Maximum Demand (MD) usage
tariff (T3), whereas T2 is applicable for general use where power is
measured at 400V and the average consumption is more than 7,500kwh per
meter reading period and the demand doesn’t exceed 500KVA per meter
reading period and T3 is Applicable for general use where power is
metered at 11KV and above.
In Manyoni District which has 18
villages, REA has already covered 50 Kilometers in the distribution of
electricity, according to Managing Director of the contracted
company?Octopus Engineering Ltd Eng, Leonard Nyamsangya.
However, he said many people were still
reluctant to be connected to the services due to lack of awareness. “We
still need a huge campaign to sensitize people but many of them have low
income that is why they don’t express their intention to be connected
to electricity,’’ he said
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