CEC cries foul over ZESCO terms over Bulk Supply Agreement

TERMS that were proposed by ZESCO over the Bulk Supply Agreement were unfair and would have been injurious to the operations of the Copperbelt Energy Corporation (CEC), CEC corporate communication Chama Nsabika has said. And Mr Nsabika said it CEC was committed to continue providing seamless power supply services to all its customers on the Copperbelt while the parties continue to seek resolution of the outstanding matters and follow through with conclusion of the negotiation for a new power supply agreement. He said the corporation view was that achieving a mutually acceptable power supply agreement between the parties remains of strategic importance to the electricity sector and the country. Ms Nsabika told the Daily Nation yesterday, CEC remains confident that the parties would use the next several weeks to narrow the negotiation gap, culminating into a new power supply agreement between them. ‘‘While the initial understanding was that the parties would work to put in place an interim agreement, it became clear during the negotiations that the intention was to agree a wholesomely new agreement with totally different terms. CEC considers that some terms being demanded by the GRZ team, if accepted, would be injurious to the CEC business and impact its ability to continue operating as a going concern,” Ms Nsabika said. Ms Nsabika said the Company would do its best to ensure that any agreement it enters into would be negotiated in good faith and reflect a fair outcome so as to ensure that the business continues to operate sustainably and in the interest of all its stakeholders, who include shareholders, customers, employees, debt providers and many others. Recently Minister of Energy Mathew Nkhuwa disclosed that Zesco and Copperbelt Energy Cooperation (CEC) have failed to agree on terms to sign the 20 year Power Bulk Agreement which came to an end by midnight on Tuesday. Mr Nkhuwa said that the power utility company during negotiations proposed to sign a 12 months tenure which had been objected by CEC.