To view the Msunduzi Municipality Tariffs for 2009/2010 click here.

ELECTRICITY TARIFFS

At a recent meeting, Hendrik Barnard, the tariff expert engaged by the city administrator to research and revise the municipal electricity tariffs, explained the new tariffs and the rationale behind them.    While the PCB would like to reserve final judgement until their impact is clear, the changes are viewed as very positive. 

• The average increase imposed by the Municipality is 21%.   This does not mean that 21% has simply been added to each component of the tariff (as has been done in the past): it means that the income from electricity sales across the board has had to be increased by 21%.   The approved Eskom increase for municipalities is 28,5%.
• The demand charge has been reduced to achieve a better balance between this and the Kwh charge which, of course, has had to be increased to compensate.   (The PCB has argued that it is more acceptable to pay for what is used, rather than pay for what is not used.)
• A Time-of-use Tariff has been introduced and all users taking supply at 6,6 and 11kVA will be placed on this tariff as from 1 July 2010.
• In the course of time, smaller users will also be converted to time-of-use, but this is not possible at present.
• Companies with fixed term tariff agreements will continue with this arrangement until the term expires.
• Companies with open-ended tariff agreements will be notified that these discounts will be phased out over three years.
• A facility to enable users to monitor their accounts on the internet will be installed as soon as possible.
• A rigorous policy of cutting off the electricity to non-payers will be pursued.

The revised tariffs, which we understand will almost certainly be approved, will be implemented from 1 July 2010.   Click here to view.