ELECTRICITY BECOMING LESS AFFORDABLE

Sir,

When prepaid electricity was first introduced to us, we warmly welcome it with both hands. We were very much happy with such a solution which intended to improve transform and develop the life of emaSwati.

Just when we were becoming used to his new system of buying electricity, the price of electricity units escalated within a short space of time. Electricity nowadays costs an arm and a leg.
Recently, we saw reports that Eskom, the South African electricity company from which Eswatini Electricity Company (EEC) imports a considerable amount of power, has applied for tariff increases of up to 44 per cent for next year. While EEC has not come out clear about the impact of this move, there are reports that EEC will be seeking another tariff hike in November. It is a fact that when South Africa coughs, Eswatini catches the cold. Not only the Lilangeni is pegged to the Rand, but almost everything is influenced by changes that are implemented in South Africa. The domestic consumer of electricity has a reason to be worried about the cost of electricity in 2025, given the advocacy against the subsidising of domestic consumers by the industrial consumers.

By the look of things, the cost of electricity could double next year. While EEC struggles with balancing energy security, pricing and sustainability as Eswatini integrates renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind, into the national grid,  affordability is our main concern as consumers.  As Eswatini has just secured electricity imports for the next 10 years, ensuring a stable energy supply while the country continues its transition towards renewable energy EEC needs to resolve the dilemma of increasing locally-generated electricity, which could cost even higher than imported power.

Given that local private electricity companies will also expect to make lucrative profits on top of the expenses of power generation, perhaps Eswatini could be better off importing more electricity from South Africa, Mozambique or elsewhere than to let consumers suffer double or even triple hikes in unit prices.  

Male voice
 
    

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