POWER consumers will have to dig deeper into their pockets starting January 1, 2017, following an increase on electricity tariff by an average of 8.5 per cent which has been approved by the Energy and Water Utilities Regulatory Authority (EWURA). Consumers will now have to pay 263.02/- per kilowatt hour (kWh) up from 242.34/- currently charged, representing an increase of 20.68/- per unit.
The new increase is set to generate
1.608trl/- for the Tanzania Electric Supply Company (Tanesco) to enable
it finance operation costs and undertake capital investment programmes.
The power bill hike, however, will not
affect customers in DI category (low usage domestic customers who
consume on average less than 75Kwh per month).
Customers in this category will continue
paying 100/- per kWh but will be subjected to a rate of 350/- per kWh
for any unit exceeding 75 kWh. The new increase comes few months after
the industry regulator approved an application by the power utility to
reduce tariff by between 1.5 and 2.4 per cent in April, this year,
before Tanesco made a fresh application for an increment in October,
this year.
In its application in October, Tanesco
had asked the regulator to approve an increase of 18.19 per cent to
enable it raise 1.9trl/- as it seeks to expand electricity coverage to
75 per cent of the population by the year 2025.
The state-owned power utility wanted an
increase of power bill from 242.34/- per kWh to 286.28/- per kWh where
generation costs were pegged at 155.35 per kWh while transmission and
distribution costs were proposed at 23.76/- and 107.17/- per kWh.
However, at a news conference in Dar es
Salaam yesterday, the Director General of EWURA, Mr Felix Ngalamgosi,
said the proposed 18.19 per cent tariff hike was too high.
Almost all stakeholders who gave their
opinions on the proposed hike were against the move, expressing concerns
as to why the power utility wanted an increase in power bill few months
after seeking the same to be reduced. These, according to Mr
Ngalamgosi, included the Government Consultative Council (GCC), EWURA
Consumer Consultative Council (EWURA-CCC), Zanzibar Electricity
Corporation (ZECO) and the general public.
“The GCC reasoned that the increase may
deter efforts by the government to promote industrialisation. It thus
recommended unbundling of Tanesco in order to achieve operational
efficiency,” Mr Ngalamgosi explained.
EWURA-CCC had expressed concerns that
the hike would be a burden to power consumer, it thus recommended that
Tanesco should focus on collection of outstanding debts from consumers
and check losses of electricity during transmission and distribution.
ZECO on the on the other hand said it
should be exempted from the distribution costs incurred by Tanesco since
the latter does not distribute electricity in Zanzibar.
“During public hearings conducted in
Mwanza, Mbeya, Arusha, Dodoma and Dar es Salaam, members of the general
public were of the view that circumstances which led to tariff decrease
in April, 2016, are still the same to date and hence no justifiable
grounds for an increase,” Mr Ngalamgosi explained.
On the other hand, Mr Ngalamgosi said
the industry regulator had approved an application by Tanesco to
subdivide TI customer group to TIa and TIb. Tia category shall include
residential, commercial and public lighting customers.
TIb on the other hand shall be composed
of small industries, billboards and communication towers and this
category shall be subjected to a monthly service charge of 5,520/-.
In February, this year, the power
utility had presented a proposal to decrease electricity average tariff
by 1.1 per cent from 274.9/- per kWh to 272.00/- per kWh effective from
April 1, 2016 and further cut tariff to 7.9 per cent from January 2017.
The proposal also sought to abolish
service charges to household consumers and remove charges imposed on
customers requesting for power connection to their houses
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