Cabinet has approved the publication of the much-anticipated Revised Electricity Pricing Policy for public comment, amid growing affordability concerns following years of above-inflation tariff hikes.
The statement released after the July 29 Cabinet meeting indicates that the proposed revision moves to update the 2008 Electricity Pricing Policy in a way that reflects developments in the electricity supply industry, including ongoing market reforms arising from the unbundling of Eskom and the implementation of the Electricity Regulation Amendment Act of 2024.
“The policy strengthens the regulatory framework governing electricity prices, tariffs, and charges, and provides tariff transparency through the unbundling of tariffs across generation, transmission, distribution and retail activities, thus consolidating regulatory arrangements for electricity pricing across the various pricing interfaces between generators, traders, the National Transmission Company South Africa, and distributors,” the statement reads.
The policy also supports the introduction of cost-reflective tariffs while protecting vulnerable users and strategic economic sectors, but without naming those sectors.
It also reportedly establishes the framework through which these interfaces will be enabled and regulated by the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa), which has already approved discounted tariffs for two ferrochrome companies and is considering negotiated pricing agreements (NPAs) for other ferroalloy producers, as well as other sectors.
