"Cut residential power costs'

Fri, 16 May 2008

Residential electricity costs should be reduced not increased, said trade union Solidarity on Thursday.

"If international trends are used as a guideline for South African electricity rates, the rates charged to residential consumers should be reduced by approximately 43.3 percent," said Solidarity deputy general secretary Dirk Hermann.

Herman said internationally, residential consumers paid on average 51 percent more for electricity than industries.

"South Africa does not follow remotely similar principles and residential consumers are currently paying around 168 percent more than industrial clients," according to Hermann.

"In some municipalities, households are paying as much as 190 percent more than industries."

He said Eskom should redress this imbalance.

"Electricity rates for households should only be increased by 20 percent to be in line with the average residential rate in developing countries."

The union said it would be submitting a report on these concerns to the National Energy Regulator's public hearings on 23 May about proposed electricity rates increase.