Cape Town — South Africa’s energy regulator on Thursday granted state power utility Eskom an average tariff increase of 12.7% for 2025/26, a third of what the debt-laden company had requested.
Eskom had sought increases of about 36% from April, 12% in 2026 and 9% in 2027, prompting opposition in public consultations, with political parties and consumers citing the weak economy and a cost-of-living crisis.
“We are required to ensure that Eskom is sustainable within the short and the long term. At the same time, we are required to ensure that the electricity services that Eskom provides are affordable,” said Thembani Bukula, chairman of the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa).
The regulator’s decision effectively denies Eskom tens of billions of rand that the company said it needs to deal with coal contracts, a higher carbon tax and rising debt from municipalities.
The energy minister said the government will work with Eskom to achieve greater efficiency gains to contend with the lower than requested tariff increases.
“We welcome the fact that these tariff adjustments take into account the need to mitigate inflationary pressures on communities and businesses,” energy minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa said in a statement.
Eskom said last month that it expected to post its first annual profit in eight years, supported by an improved operational performance and a state relief package.
Earlier on Thursday the company reported revenue for the six months to Sept. 30 of 183.7 billion rand ($9.95 billion), up 15.8% year on year. Profit after tax rose to 17.8 billion rand from a restated profit of 1.6 billion rand a year earlier.
($1 = 18.4647 rand)
*Wendell Roelf & Nqobile Dludla, editing: Jason Neely & David Goodman – Reuters
