The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA) is proposing a national performance framework for municipal electricity distributors, covering outages, restoration times, distribution losses and compliance with bulk payment obligations to Eskom Distribution.
The proposal is set out in a consultation paper on draft rules under Section 29 of the Electricity Regulation Act, which deals with key performance indicators for the technical and operational aspects of municipal electricity reticulation systems.
The proposed rules would apply to all municipal electricity licensees with six technical and operational key performance indicators:
- System Average Interruption Duration Index (SAIDI)
- System Average Interruption Frequency Index (SAIFI)
- Customer Average Interruption Duration Index (CAIDI)
- Customer Average Interruption Frequency Index (CAIFI)
- Distribution losses
- Compliance with bulk payment obligations to Eskom Distribution
SAIDI measures the average duration of supply interruptions across a system while SAIFI measures their average frequency.
CAIDI measures the average restoration time for affected customers and CAIFI the average interruption frequency experienced by customers who were interrupted.
NERSA says the rules intend to create “a uniform, transparent and measurable framework” for monitoring municipal electricity reticulation performance across the country.
The regulator proposes different thresholds for metropolitan, district and local municipalities. Metros would face more stringent performance thresholds while district municipalities would have moderate thresholds with capacity building support. Local municipalities would have gradual compliance targets supported by appropriate mechanisms.
The paper sets out questions on whether the proposed indicators are sufficient to measure technical and operational performance, whether the calculation methods align with NRS 048-6 and whether exclusions for transmission, generation and independent power producer-related interruptions are appropriate.
It also includes a proposed tariff adjustment of up to 1% above or below an approved tariff as a reward or penalty for performance against the indicators.
The proposed framework requires municipal distributors to submit quarterly and annual reports. The paper also seeks input on implementation barriers, including municipal capacity, funding and data availability.
Written comments are due by August 3, according to NERSA’s latest public notice. Stakeholders wishing to make oral representations at a virtual public hearing scheduled for August 14 must register by July 20.
