Nersa to challenge power hike ruling

THE board of the National Energy Regulator of SA (Nersa) decided yesterday to go with the recommendation of its electricity sub-committee to challenge a court judgment on electricity tariffs.

Nersa said it was appealing against the North Gauteng High Court judgment delivered on August 16 as it was flawed.

Earlier this month, the court set aside Nersa’s decision to grant Eskom an effective 9.4% increase for this year on the grounds that the regulator’s rules and methodology had not been properly applied.

The effect of the ruling was that unless Eskom or Nersa appealed against the decision‚ Eskom was not permitted to continue to charge customers the tariff increase‚ and would have to revert to a 3.4% increase on 2015 tariffs.

Nersa said yesterday the judgment had “also created a hierarchy of issues” around how the regulator determined the amount of money that Eskom should be able to recover from the consumers for the previous financial years.

“It is believed that the appeal will create certainty with regard to the regulatory framework as there will be an approved tariff in place during the appeal process,” Nersa said.

“It will also allow an opportunity to clarify issues raised in the judgment.” – TMG Digital