Nelson Mandela Bay has come out third-cheapest for prepaid and credit electricity tariffs of all metros in SA.
An analysis by The Herald of tariffs across the country’s eight metros has found R1,000 of prepaid electricity will get you 522 units in the Bay.
But if you lived in Bloemfontein or Pretoria you would get 563.69 units and 523 units respectively – the only two metros cheaper than the Bay.
In Cape Town, residents fork out the most for electricity – getting 436.8 units for R1,000.
While some metros have a flat tariff rate, the Bay uses an inclining block tariff (IBT).
This means that the more electricity you buy, the more expensive it becomes.
Municipal spokesperson Kupido Baron said the inclining block model resulted in those who used a lot of electricity subsidising those who used less.
“The main feature of the IBT is that it makes higher-consuming customers pay a higher rate for electricity while a lower-consuming customer benefits from a lower rate,” Baron said.
New tariffs with a 13.7% increase kicked in on July 1.
The 2019/2020 increase was based on National Energy Regulator of SA (Nersa) guidelines, proposed Eskom price increase and customer usage patterns.
Despite the massive hike, Baron said the number of units sold before and after the increase remained the same.
“In June 2019 the municipality sold 51,938,289kW/h, translating to R85,301,868, while in July 2019 we sold 51,544,407kW/h translating to R87,806,043,” Baron said.
“It is less than a 1% difference and is normal to have these kinds of variances between months.”
With the high cost of electricity, many residents had either gone off the grid or were using gas, Nelson Mandela Bay Ratepayers’ Association chair Kobus Gerber said.
Gerber said he did not support the 13.7% increase.
“I know of people who are using gas lamps and are no longer even buying electricity.
“You can’t just put in place such an increase in electricity.”
Gerber said he strongly believed the price hike was one of the reasons some companies were restructuring, resulting in retrenchments.
“This is the ripple effect of corruption and mismanagement,” he said.
“The increase in electricity affects everything.”
With the third-highest tariffs among the metros, Buffalo City hiked the price of electricity only by 6.84%.
Buffalo City spokesperson Samkelo Ngwenya said a flat charge of R2.34 per unit was used for residents.
“The cost of providing electricity to the city is ever increasing and the metro is losing a lot of revenue through nontechnical losses,” he said.
“Infrastructure depreciation is very high in the city.”
In Ethekwini (Durban metro), residents pay different prices in summer and winter.
Ethekwini billing manager Archie Vandermeer said: “The time-of-use tariff is based on seasonal tariffs billed by Eskom.”
Mangaung (Bloemfontein) spokesperson Lele Mamatu said the metro used an IBT, with the first 350 units being the cheapest.
Bay boasts third-cheapest electricity tariffs of all metros
Nelson Mandela Bay has come out third-cheapest for prepaid and credit electricity tariffs of all metros in SA.
An analysis by The Herald of tariffs across the country’s eight metros has found R1,000 of prepaid electricity will get you 522 units in the Bay.
But if you lived in Bloemfontein or Pretoria you would get 563.69 units and 523 units respectively – the only two metros cheaper than the Bay.
In Cape Town, residents fork out the most for electricity – getting 436.8 units for R1,000.
While some metros have a flat tariff rate, the Bay uses an inclining block tariff (IBT).
This means that the more electricity you buy, the more expensive it becomes.
Municipal spokesperson Kupido Baron said the inclining block model resulted in those who used a lot of electricity subsidising those who used less.
“The main feature of the IBT is that it makes higher-consuming customers pay a higher rate for electricity while a lower-consuming customer benefits from a lower rate,” Baron said.
New tariffs with a 13.7% increase kicked in on July 1.
The 2019/2020 increase was based on National Energy Regulator of SA (Nersa) guidelines, proposed Eskom price increase and customer usage patterns.
Despite the massive hike, Baron said the number of units sold before and after the increase remained the same.
“In June 2019 the municipality sold 51,938,289kW/h, translating to R85,301,868, while in July 2019 we sold 51,544,407kW/h translating to R87,806,043,” Baron said.
“It is less than a 1% difference and is normal to have these kinds of variances between months.”
With the high cost of electricity, many residents had either gone off the grid or were using gas, Nelson Mandela Bay Ratepayers’ Association chair Kobus Gerber said.
Gerber said he did not support the 13.7% increase.
“I know of people who are using gas lamps and are no longer even buying electricity.
“You can’t just put in place such an increase in electricity.”
Gerber said he strongly believed the price hike was one of the reasons some companies were restructuring, resulting in retrenchments.
“This is the ripple effect of corruption and mismanagement,” he said.
“The increase in electricity affects everything.”
With the third-highest tariffs among the metros, Buffalo City hiked the price of electricity only by 6.84%.
Buffalo City spokesperson Samkelo Ngwenya said a flat charge of R2.34 per unit was used for residents.
“The cost of providing electricity to the city is ever increasing and the metro is losing a lot of revenue through nontechnical losses,” he said.
“Infrastructure depreciation is very high in the city.”
In Ethekwini (Durban metro), residents pay different prices in summer and winter.
Ethekwini billing manager Archie Vandermeer said: “The time-of-use tariff is based on seasonal tariffs billed by Eskom.”
Mangaung (Bloemfontein) spokesperson Lele Mamatu said the metro used an IBT, with the first 350 units being the cheapest.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Register (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Trending Now
Latest Videos