AfriForum wants reasons for NERSA’s previous RCA decisions

AfriForum requested the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA) to provide reasons for the regulator’s decision on the regulatory clearing account (RCA) for the 2014/2015, 2015/2016 and 2016/2017 financial years which was published on 14 June 2018. NERSA granted R32,69 billion of the R67 billion that Eskom had requested.

AfriForum’s request for these reasons is important because comment on the RCA application for 2017/2018 as well as on the next tariff increase must be submitted by 30 November 2018. This information is critical to allow the various organisations to effectively partake in the public participation process.

“The multi-year price-fixing process allows Eskom to recover any warranted costs. Despite NERSA stating in all its press releases that thee reasons would be published, it is yet to be done. We want to know which actions are considered warranted to be able to compile our commentary. NERSA should properly inform communities so that the public participation process can take place effectively,” says Morné Mostert, AfriForum’s Head for Local Government Affairs.

Dr Eugene Brink, Strategic Advisor for Community Affairs at AfriForum, says that the initial indication was that these would have be made available in September, “NERSA did indicate in June that it would first have to consult with Eskom on what would be made public and what not. Considering the corruption at Eskom, it is extremely problematic to withhold information from the public, and the fact that the publication of the reason continues to be postponed is reason for concern,” Brink says.