Why does Eskom want to punish people for saving power?

The good news is that, if you want to save money in electricity bills, you can install a solar power array.

The bad news is that, if you do so, and you use less of Eskom’s unreliable electricity supply, the power company will charge you more.

Eskom’s proposals for a new tariff structure set new standards for rapacious behaviour, either from a private or government organisation.

ALSO READ: Bad news for you, worse news for Eskom – Nersa caps tariff increase at 9.61%

The utility has applied to increase its charges for the 2023-24 year by a staggering 32.66%.

Nersa has been ordered by the High Court in Pretoria to publish the application before 1 August and make a determination by 24 December.

Hidden in the meat of the proposal is one which would see low consumers of power paying a higher fixed price than those who use a lot.

This is called a fixed capacity fee which would, according to Eskom, cover the fixed costs of production and transmission of electricity.

There was, unsurprisingly, no mention of rebates for those times when there is no fixed capacity, which has been up to a quarter of each day recently, thanks to load shedding.

Eskom’s arguments are that it needs such a massive overall tariff increase because previous hikes permitted by Nersa were insufficient to allow investment in new plants and maintenance.

The proposed fixed cost structure, it promises, is not a revenue generator, but intended to rebalance tariffs fairly.

READ MORE: Here’s how much electricity you can buy with R1000, R2000 in SA’s biggest metros

It is also supposed to prepare the way for the “unbundling” of Eskom.

But, is it fair to penalise people who want to save our overall national demand by looking to renewable energy, such as solar?

Most of the rest of the world doesn’t think so, but we, in SA, do.

Sadly, this is yet another of the state capture chickens coming home to roost, coupled with “ordinary” corruption and inefficiency.