The National Energy Regulator of South Africa has approved an average price increase of 16% for electricity tariffs from the 1 April 2012 to the 31 March 2013.
Nersa said Friday that today that Eskom had lodged an application earlier this month for a tariff review, proposing a 9.9% tariff reduction from the 25.9% approved by the energy regulator for the 2012/2013 financial year.
During his state of the nation address President Jacob Zuma said he would ask Eskom to find a way of reducing electricity price increases.
On Thursday, deputy president Kgalema Motlanthe, told parliament that Eskom's future price path would take the economy's competitiveness into account.
Nersa's Tembani Bukula says the tariff reduction will make electricity more affordable for the "man in the street."
He said after president Zuma's state of the nation address, government through the Department of Public Enterprises came back to Nersa and sid that they are "willing to rephase their return on equity which is an amount of R8bn."
"Out of the other calculations that we have on an account called the regulatory clearing account, we found another amount of R3bn that makes the amount that we can reduce Eskom's revenue by to be about R11bn and that then translates to an average price increase of aobut 16%," he said.
