Power cut will impact deeply - KCM
KONKOLA Copper Mines (in liquidation) says it will suffer greater inconvenience should there be power disruption compared to the economic loss that Copperbelt Energy Corporation (CEC0 may suffer from the use of its power infrastructure.
In this matter, Zesco Limited and KCM have sued CEC in the Lusaka High Court, seeking a declaration that the private power company’s action to restrict power supply to the mine contravenes the law.
The two firms are seeking an injunction restraining CEC from restricting KCM from receiving supply from Zesco, pending determination of the matter.
They also want an order restraining CEC from taking out any supply units, lines or delivery points to KCM because they are Common Carriers as declared under Statutory lnstrument (SI) number 57 of 2020.
Earlier, the court granted Zesco and KCM an Exparte mandatory injunction restraining CEC.
But in affidavit in opposition, CEC Chief Operating Officer Christopher Nthala explained that his firm was a licensed independent power generation, transmission, distribution and supply company whose business was to supply electricity on the Copperbelt.
He stated that the company also wheeled power on behalf of Zesco on the Copperbelt using its network comprising over 1, 000 kilometres of high voltage transmission lines and 43 substations.
Mr Nthala explained that CEC and Zesco had a contract for the supply and purchase of power referred to as Bulk Supply Agreement (BSA) effected on November 21, 1997 and expired on March 31, 2020, following an extension of its original tenure of 15 years to 20 years.
He stated that CEC had been the main supplier of power to the mines on the Copperbelt, consequently to which it entered into various existing long term power supply agreements (PSA).
This includes KCM whose term expired on March 31, this year but was extended to May 31, 2020 by mutual agreement.
“Between February and March 2020, CEC and Government Negotiating Team (GNT) which comprised Zesco and representatives from Government, were engaged in negotiations for a new power supply agreement to replace the BSA,” Mr Nthala stated.
He stated that while the initial understanding was that the parties would work to put in place an interim agreement, it became clear during the negotiations that Zesco's intention was to enter into a new agreement with totally different terms.
But KCM argued that despite the transmission and distribution lines being private property of CEC, the Minister of Energy was empowered by law to designate private infrastructure in the power industry as being available for transmission of power to the general public.
KCM implored the court to take judicial notice of the fact that apart from conducting mining operations, it also provides various amenities to the community of which the most critical were the various clinics and mine hospitals.