It’s about time South Africans paid the right price for power

THE recent court ruling against the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) marks a significant turning point in determining electricity tariffs in the country.

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Beyond the legal jargon and regulatory frameworks, this decision represents a substantial victory for citizens who deserve fairness, accountability and transparency in the principles used to calculate electricity costs - elements that have long been lacking in how energy prices are set for millions of South Africans.

This ruling is Nersa's third court defeat since 2022.

While these court rulings do not alter the current tariffs, they do necessitate a more transparent and accountable process for future rate increases.

For too many years, ordinary citizens and businesses have endured a system that often appeared arbitrary and detached from reality.

Consumers have faced double-digit price increases for both Eskom and municipal electricity, placing a heavy financial burden on already stretched household budgets.

In many cases, municipalities have implemented blanket tariff increases without proper justification or meaningful public consultation. Nersas's approval of these increases, without requiring municipalities to provide clear, evidence-based cost-of-supply studies, has left consumers in the dark about how their electricity prices were calculated.

The court's finding that this approach was unconstitutional is not only a technical correction in process; it is a moral correction in principle.

It restores the idea that power, quite literally, should be priced on truth - on the real costs of supplying electricity, on the efficiency of the municipality providing it, and on open dialogue with the people who ultimately foot the bill.

This court ruling requires every municipality to conduct and publish its own cost-of-supply study; engage the public in a transparent process, and justify any proposed increase with factual evidence.