Suburban
Peter Tanyanyiwa Suburban Reporter
SOME consumers have expressed concern the recent Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC) tariff increase while others have welcomed it saying the power utility needs the money to fund power generation.
Harare residents who spoke against the increase argued that they will not be able to afford the new tariffs considering that they were already struggling with the old charges.
However, other residents particularly from the northern suburbs said the increase was justified because they were experiencing extreme load shedding. They were hopeful that the situation might improve following the increase.
The power utility this week increased electricity tariffs by 356 percent to US$0.1063 per kilowatt hour (kWh) from US$0.0233 kWh from Sunday this week.
Residents complaining over the increase felt the 356 percent hike was sharp while those in support of the rise said it was inadequate because it had been long since ZESA Holdings last hiked its tariffs. They added that given that the cost of doing business and inflation were rising, the latest increase would not help the power utility.
“We understand all costs are going up, but this was a big move, they could have increased but not to this level. Not many will be able to afford electricity now considering we were already struggling with the old charges.
“This will affect any Zimbabwean as many are struggling to stay above the water. I think the power utility could have communicated and consulted residents so that they ready themselves for such a sharp increase,” said a resident.
Residents argued that power should be subsidised since consumers are facing several challenges.
“The increase is a shock to everyone but for some of us who have been struggling to get power, we hope that the increase will ease the situation and we can get power more regularly.
“Looking at the fact that not many are getting salary increases, institutions like ZESA should be helping cushioning the residents from the hardships. This increase was not justified in any way but we hope they will finally improve their service. I don’t think they have an excuse anymore,” said another resident.
However, other residents pointed that the increase might fall short given the costs of generating and transmitting electricity.
“I feel that the charge is still too cheap. The real question we should all be asking is that should the management be blamed. Is it ethical for a manager to stay on a job when he realises that the policies he is required to execute are detrimental to the company?
“Our electricity should be priced at 13 cents not the current 10 cents in order to be profitable and more importantly sustainable. Before the increase it was at 3 cents. The same issues still apply as the past two years there has been little activity due to Covid-19,” said another resident.
The electricity tariffs have reverted to the local currency equivalent of the US dollar charges of 2018 with ZETDC saying the adjustment is meant to “restore the integrity of the utility.”
In a statement , ZETDC advised customers that the energy regulator ZERA, the Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority, had approved a tariffs adjustment in order to restore the value of the tariff to a level of 10,63 US cents/kWh. There are percentage discounts for householders at several levels for the first 300kWh.
“This adjustment is expected to go a long way in enabling the utility to carry out its mandate of delivering services to the public” the stakeholder relations said.
“The tariff was approved in 2018 using indexation, but it was being eroded by exchange rate volatility and ZERA did not adjust to the full extent so that it was equal to 3,34 US cents per unit.”
ZETDC said the tariff adjustment was meant to restore the integrity of the utility so this 10 cents is just as the tariff was last in October 2019.
