Electricity customers and industry participants now have until September 8 to comment on the National Energy Regulator of South Africa’s draft findings on fixed and generation capacity charges.
NERSA extended the consultation period by 30 working days after stakeholders requested additional time to prepare submissions. The previous deadline was Monday, July 27.
The inquiry covers fixed charges levied by municipalities and Eskom’s Generation Capacity Charge, Legacy Charge and Variable Energy Charge introduced under the utility’s restructured Retail Tariff Plan for the 2025/26 financial year.
NERSA’s draft market inquiry report finds that, although separating fixed and variable cost recovery has merit, the resulting effects have varied across customer categories. Customers with lower consumption, seasonal demand, embedded generation or sensitivity to load factors experienced bill increases above the approved average tariff adjustment, the report states.
The report also finds that changes to time-of-use tariffs had a greater-than-expected effect on some industrial customers, particularly those using off-peak and standard periods. Agricultural users were affected because irrigation, processing and storage requirements do not necessarily align with tariff periods, NERSA says.
The regulator notes that its quantitative analysis is based on 33 usable customer data points, predominantly from industrial and large-power users. Residential, prepaid and low-consumption customers were underrepresented, meaning further work is required to assess the effect on these groups.
NERSA has invited comments on the inquiry’s methodology, evidence, preliminary findings and recommendations. Written submissions must be sent to electricity.marketinquiry@nersa.org.za by September 8, according to its extension notice.
