Eskom caught in 'serious loot' trap

EXPERT: UTILITY INDEBTED, NO DEMAND FOR POWER

- Brian Sokutu

Contracts with IPPS entered into at height of blackouts.

In what has been described by an energy analyst as “a serious loot”, Eskom yesterday said it was legally obliged to continue buying electricity from independent power producers (IPPs) and honour payments - despite a power abundance in the country and a stable grid.

The long-term multimillion-rand contracts were entered at the height of load shedding. Board chair Mteto Nyati last week revealed how the state-owned enterprise could not opt out of the “take or pay” contracts as this would cost the power utility “a fortune”.