City Power announced that it would increase its tariffs by an average of seven percent from 1 July, after the National Electricity Regulator of SA approved the hikes.
The regulator approved City Power’s tariff increase application across different consumer segments.
City Power managing director, Sicelo Xulu said the utility had applied its mind to the submissions before making the application and took a number of variables into consideration.
A 9.3 percent tariff increase for time of use for medium voltage was granted, and a 0.17 percent increase for time of use tariff increase for low voltage customers was approved.
The cost of electricity for medium voltage large power users (LPU) would increase by 7.41 percent, while it would increase by 7.37 percent for low voltage LPUs.
Conventional commercial users will pay 4.79 percent more for their energy consumption, while commercial pre-paid customers will pay 9.40 percent more.
Residents who were billed using conventional means would pay 7.36 percent more for electricity usage, and prepaid customers would pay 7.45 percent extra for their electricity usage.
“These tariff increases strike the balance between raising the required capital to improve infrastructure to ensure a steady and uninterrupted supply of electricity, and the economic realities faced by hard-pressed consumers,” Xulu said.
“The lower increase also significantly reduces the pressure on revenue collection – the more affordable the price of electricity is kept for our broad customer base, the less severe this challenge becomes for City Power.”
