Nersa publishes Eskom’s request for hefty 36% electricity tariff hike

The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) has officially published Eskom’s multi-year revenue application, which includes hiking up tariffs for direct customers by around 36% next year.

Eskom’s controversial proposed electricity tariff increases for the next three years have gone out with public submissions open until 4pm on 1 November.

The utility submitted its application to Nersa in August for a proposed 36.15% hike during its 2026 financial year; 11.81% in 2027 and 9.10% in 2028.

Eskom tariff hike

Eskom’s proposed tariff hike  follows an almost 13% hike this April with the hefty increase already sparking controversy with the Democratic Alliance (DA) launching a petition calling for the application to be rejected.

So far it has garnered more than 103,000 signatures.

Nersa said Eskom’s application will be processed following all required procedures, which include assessment for regulatory compliance.

“If the application is considered compliant, it will be processed in terms of the prescripts of the National Energy Regulator Act, 2004 (Act No. 40 of 2004).

“In this regard, the application will be published for stakeholder comments and public consultation, which emphasises both transparency and public participation,” Nersa said.

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Eskom revenue

The sixth multiyear price determination (MYPD6) confirms Eskom is making a total allowable revenue application of R446 billion for 2026, R495 billion for 2027 and R537 billion for 2026 which it applied for will be aimed at recovering what would have been determined as the allowable revenue.

Eskom’s application includes Regulatory Clearing Account (RCA) determinations which allows the state-owned entity to  recover revenues for a particular year if tariffs were too low.

The money would be recovered in future tariffs, with Eskom applying for an almost R24 billion for its 2022 year and R9 million for 2023, with Nersa yet to make determinations of these, according to News24.

Application

According to Nersa, Eskom’s application is premised on two processes.

Foremost, the current Eskom application is a revenue requirement that the regulator must consider in line with the Electricity Regulation Act, Multi-Year Price Determination Methodology and stakeholder inputs through the public participation process.

“The end stage of the revenue requirement is what is termed allowable revenue. Allowable revenue is the amount Eskom will be entitled to recover in each financial year. It is fundamental to highlight that allowable revenue is not an increase to an individual customer/end-user tariff,” Nersa said.

The application also translates into tariff increases of 43.55% to municipalities from 1 July 2025; an increase of 3.36% from 1 July 2026 and a price increase of 11.07% from 1 July 2027.

ALSO READ: ‘Taxpayers are paying twice for Eskom’s poor decisions’: Nersa’s R8.1 billion approval criticised