Nersa loses secrecy bid

COURT: REGULATOR ORDERED TO SHOW MUNICIPAL ELECTRICITY COSTS

- Antoinette Slabbert

BEHIND THE VEIL. How Nersa could unilaterally declare a cost-of-supply study as confidential 'is beyond concerning', says judge. Picture: Bloomberg

(Bloomberg)

The High Court in Pretoria on Friday rejected energy regulator Nersa's contention that cost-of-supply studies on which municipal tariff applications are based are confidential and meant exclusively for the regulator's eyes.

It ordered Nersa to publish such studies as part of each municipal distributor's tariff application.

This means consumers who question municipalities' high electricity tariffs will now be able to see exactly what it costs each municipality to supply electricity.

It will include, for example, how much they pay Eskom for bulk purchases, and how much is spent on repairs and maintenance.

Consumers can decide for themselves whether tariffs are unnecessarily high because municipalities are wasting money. They will also have more time to object if it appears unnecessary "fat" has been built into electricity tariffs.