Friday, March 29, 2024

ZESCO to effect a 200 % Electricity Tariff Hike Starting October 1st

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FILE: ZESCO Senior Corporate Affairs Patrick Mwila displaying awards won by the power utility.
FILE: ZESCO Senior Corporate Affairs Patrick Mwila displaying awards won by the power utility.

ZESCO will effect a 200 percent electricity tariff hike starting October 1st, 2019 to facilitate the planned importation of power from Eskom of South Africa. The period for the increase will only be for six months of the power importation aimed at mitigating load shedding following a decline in power generation necessitated by low water levels.

ZESCO Director Strategy and Corporate Services Patrick Mwila, however, said that the tariff hike will vary for individual costs depending on spending brackets, adding that importation will mean available power in the country will increase by 300 megawatts.

Mr. Mwila disclosed this at a media briefing in Lusaka.

And ZESCO Acting Managing Director Webster Musonda said the imported power with cost 22 Million United States dollars monthly which will be passed on to consumers.

Mr Musonda said that Zambia’s power deficit has risen to 690 megawatts from 425 megawatts in August and about 265 in June.

Mr. Musonda said the current water levels are the worst in almost 25 years, standing at 19.3 percent in the Kariba dam when it was at 79.3 percent this time last year.

Mr. Musonda said there is the need for ZESCO to seriously manage its generation capacity so that its ability to generate power for the first two months of 2020 in case the rainfall pattern will be bad.

Mr Musonda has also allayed allegations by some people claiming that the newly installed turbines use up more water saying they are actually more efficient.

Mr. Musonda revealed that Lunsemfwa Hydro of Central Province which was feeding about 50 megawatts into ZESCO has completely shut down operations because of lack of water.

He has however stated that new investments are expected to bring on board more power by early next year while some long term investments are being made by ZESCO and private investments worth millions of dollars which will make power supply more stable.

And, ZESCO Director Commercial and Customer Services Chiti Mataka said the utility company is not using the power importation to sneak in increased tariffs.

He said the company will only increase for six months to have the liquidity to fund the importation.

48 COMMENTS

  1. PF this sounds like you are importing power on wholesale in order to resale it to make substantial profit out of it. Can you explain yourselves properly ??

    • Honestly, only the biggest foo1 will waste their vote on these thieves, these clueless clowns called PF in 2021.
      After inflicting so much misery on our country, how can anybody in their right mind vote for these mediocre leaders? We need to start the campaign now. The opposition parties will need to unite, just so we can throw these incompetent thieves out of office in 2021. If they lose in a landslide, it’ll be hard for them to rig the election. And once they lose, they’ll have to be arrested immediately, for damaging our country’s economy.

  2. Good.

    I have a PhD and I don’t think this should matter for the well informed well educated people especially for people who live the way I do.

    I hold a PhD and I’m having a baby.

    Thanks

    BB2014,2016

  3. Pro poor kikikiki.You mean after all this incompetence PF will still have the Humble leader on the ballot in 2021?
    Anyway this is the true legacy of Sata, he bequeathed us with rogues, rascals and thieves. Where is our money you borrowed $20bn with nothing to show for it.For now we shall suffer together with your gun and panga wielding 1diots…..

  4. Let us have proper austerity measures now,we cant have our taxes abused by thieves,have they not stolen enough?We should continue paying for their obscene lifestyles while we suffer.The f00ls have state of the art vehicles bought from stolen funds and they expect us to continue paying for their vehicles whilst we struggle to afford the cost of living?

  5. the power lies in the ballot papers. the power is with you, that’s the only way to implement change, dialogue or anything else for that matter hasn’t worked

    if enough people don’t vote for them, they won’t have enough means to steal the votes

  6. Yaba!!

    But I hope that no one is suggesting that HH and UPND are options? It’s good that they are silent about this while proposing a change through the ballot.
    Please UPND, no HH on the ballot in 2021, because we will not able to achieve the desired change.

  7. The period for the increase will only be for six months of the power importation aimed at mitigating load shedding following a decline in power generation necessitated by low water levels.

    After six months, does it mean the price will revert ?

    • No after 6 months we will be told that the water levels in kariba have not yet adequately risen and therefore the price will continue for another 6 months for government to cash in at the expense of the poor. Just brace for hard times.

  8. #KICKPFOUT!!!!This PF thing is a failed project. It is only a f00l who will continue supporting a dead thing like PF. A normal person cannot continue supporting a party that has driven this nation in abject poverty. PF, as a vehicle, is beyond repair. It has no spare parts and it is obsolete. The faster the passengers realised about this, the better. Pf is not even worth being considered a scrap metal. There is no economical value that will be derived from PF even if it is disposed of. PF is completely dead. This can be seen from the people who drives it. They are tired and luck thinking capacity. It is better off being kicked out.

  9. IT WILL REVERT BECAUSE OF ELECTIONS AND GO UP ONCE ELECTIONS ARE DONE. SAME WITH FUEL PRICES IT’S ELECTIONS THAT’S WHY THEY WON’T SAY 16.20 BUT WAIT AFTER 2021 THEN U WILL SEE THE REAL COST. IT’S EVEN A POSSIBILITY THAT GOVERNMENT MIGHT OBJECT NOW THEN AGREE AFTER 2021.

  10. Why not 400% than just a partly 200%. This is too low. They will reduce in when we are getting nearer to 2021 that is their target. Mean while they will achieved what they want and a sleepy Zambian will go and support their inefficient. This is what certain sections of the Zambian community like.

  11. It’s important to publish our Cost calculations and assumptions behind your 200 % increment together with reasonable basis Over a long run marginal cost curve on your pass through cost approach Customers will need to know how you have come up with the 200% if they added importation wheeling and others
    Bikapo Wabo and reduce the 200% to reflect intensity and insulator the poor low consuming but that again will not be in the best practise in tariff setting
    Then also from reviewing costs curves over a long run marginal cost It’s difficult to reduce by 200% because by nature cost push inflationary expectations will have been set and prices and costs will have found a new…

  12. new equilibrium
    It’s a good thing to import power and make available to the Zambian economy but the 200% increment sudden could have been marginally implemented to be recovered from other GRZ and Zesco Climate Risk management to ensure the path set in setting tariffs is prudential and not distort the gains of the economy in the short to long term as we rebalance and secure to double our cumulative installed and net generation (NOT JUST ZESCO ) and avoid the eventualities if it does not rain as you are saying because cost of imported power from our partners facing supply constraints and fallout in installed capacity could be at our peril

  13. We told lungu and his pf rats to insitutionslise domestic solar power by local assembly using as much Zambian components made in Zambia and high import duty to increase employment and exports with mass sanitisation……

    But because the thieving PF thought this would cost their cash cow ZESCO money by way of less customers ………it is now Zambia paying the price.

  14. Wether its in setting petrol or power prices,disclosure of costing in pricing assumptions and methodologies both for short-term and long-term will be helpful but then Pass-through of costs or maximum price approach will not work at our level of economy Zesco will need to look to Government and procure and share with customers on margin approach or In the long-term VRE like you have rightly said and indicated there will be a forward to go given also the age of our plants on the solid TT and DS infrastructure that has received much upgrades You may also not avoid the political economy in energy pricing

  15. Without taking measures to reinvest in the USD 120 locally in the short-term in cheaper energy sources there is also a danger of extending the importation beyond the management forecast period some power balancing and Demand side could help in reducing the Import bill for the capacity energy and wheeling

    The cheapest option and path way like as confirmed from our country of import is to re balance and flex the energy mix quickly towards a 1200 Mw of renewable With transition towards electric vehicles and mining plants,the installed in new build may never at anytime be enough Its least cost effective approach in imports and tariffs

  16. Zesco probably means “daytime robbery” in Russian.That’s the only way i can explain this excessive tariff hike.

  17. SOMETIMES YOU MAY WONDER WHETHER ITS BRAINS OR JUJU WORKING.
    SOME LESSONS HERE, THAT’S WHY I LIKE THIS. I HOPE WE ARE LEARNING LESSONS.

  18. Uko… macro economic at play. Tym to run for a haircut b4 1st Oct. Guess I hv to look lyk a veteran guerrilla fighter for next 6 months with an afro & long unkempt beard….

  19. The Import price of USD 30 per Mwh to 80 Mwh for 300 MW,might be within what can be available given supply constraints from Eskom though globally not competitive prices at LCOE

    The trick is he downside ,How to pass through to local economies that 300 MW at price range of USD 30 per Mwh to 80 Mwh all at once at 200% without insulating the customers

    They should explain the cost of imports and methodologies and gradually recoup Sometimes you can hedge and manage to save the increment by passing through a third counter party and still maintain the tariff path without lossing the market

  20. Yaba………..bushe tulepusuka mu Zambia..???? Yangu Taata ehh1!!!!
    200%.

    These people do they just dream about these decisions or they have simply failed? Very shortly the effects of fuel hike will resonate country wide and all commodities WILL BE AT DOUBLE THE PRICE. And then on 18th October, we go and pray to the same God they are accusing of having brought the economy down.

    I feel this regime has run out of ideas. Please let us help them……………

  21. Mr ukwa or is it Mr mwila, so you are the clown who has been sent to deliver this news, we welcome the increment, this was foretold, even though the weather has caused a drought, the blame falls totally on PF and the incompetent leadership for failing to invest in alternative sources of energy,there is low rain but the sun is still in fashion and will be in fashion for a long time to come, in-case you have forgotten, Zambia daily mail article of February 16, 2016. you started in you tiny little brains the construction of an over 200 million dollar solar plant in Livingstone, funny enough, the construction is still only progressing in your heads. #most useless government ever.

  22. USD20 bn debt nothing to show for it in investment in electricity, USD1bn stolen between 2017 and 2018(and imagine these were lean years,long after PF had finished the carcass)according to FIC Report,imagine if that money was still in the treasury, would we be here?This government is taking us for f00ls…

  23. How did these fools come up with a 200% electricity hike? Do they have poor relatives? Do they care? Mealie meal expensive! Electricity expensive!!! All essential commodities are beyond reach. Let all meaningful Zambians unite and remove these dumb thieves from government forever. Useless PF government

  24. How did these fxxls come up with a 200% electricity hike? Do they have poor relatives? Do they care? Mealie meal expensive! Electricity expensive!!! All essential commodities are beyond reach. Let all meaningful Zambians unite and remove these dumb thieves from government forever. Useless PF government

  25. We told them……..increase duty on solar products to even 200% to intice local assembly using as much Zambia copper as possible……

    But such hard work involves no bribes to lungu and his gang, they thought local assembly and production of solar power generating sources is a waiste of time.

    Now look……….

  26. We would rather buy another 40 second hand fire tenders @ the inflated price of $1000000 each than invest that $40 million in a mini hydro power plant.

  27. Our leaders can’t think ahead. They wait for a disaster before they act and when they do it is short term solution. They don’t know that there are forces of nature. We thank God we don’t have hurricanes and typhoons otherwise kaya. They are still dancing around cholera breakouts. In matero we have 16 hours load shedding and when we call zesco and they answer the phone after 40 tries they either tell you it is a fault or maintenance. I have stopped paying for dstv, stopped using the stove, and I buy units for K50 instead of K300, it is their loss. Power went off at 06.00 and come at 14.00 but now we are off power. It is the same lame excuses every time. PF we will meet in 2021.

  28. Dont worry, the whole new leader will be on the ballot and will give hope and inspiration to Zambians. This is the only assured alternative should the PF dont work things out before 2021. UPND and HH have no chance to this unknown leader yet to hit the political scene. So watch the space.

  29. It was inevitable. We are being prepared for the increment, the cost reflective tariffs they have been singing about. It shouldn’t be squarely blamed on the current GRZ as any GRZ in power would have had to address this issue. Certain characters made billions with the CEC rip-off and people are quiet about it. They would rather publish lies about the “mismanagement” of ZESCO by PF that they blame for increased tariffs yet they stole billions by being the middleman to ZESCO and the mines for power they don’t generate!!

    • @Zambian Citizen……

      Are you normal? I am not sure you are…please visit the nearest hospital or clinic and have your brains examined.

      What you are talking about has no relevance to this outcry of all burdened, poor, starving and neglected Zambians.

      Go and bath eish!!!

  30. @Zambian citizen …always at pains to defend the indefensible – a clearly failed regime. It’s not only about the energy, it’s a catalog of other unprecedented incompetencies. Your usual reaction is to refer to other perceived thefts and shamelessly fail to respond to the realities on the ground that affect most people.

    ZESCO has been used as a cash cow for years – been over subscribed in positions by cadres without an inkling of how to run such a vital industry. Year after year there are claims of private investment collaboration – yet to be ascertained. Time has gone by since the pumping in, supposedly, of millions of US $’s and strategic launches of alternative energy sources. Talk, talk, talk, while the company is bled dry and continues to be a failed appendage of roughshod PF…

  31. As an expat living in Zambia, I feel for ordinary peace living zambians. Your country is basically so screwed up, it is ruined, due to corruption and incompetence, it’s even in plain sight with traffic police stealing money openly every day at the road side

  32. So the poor domestic consumer is being made to subsidise the large multinational mining companies so that they can externalise more money? Pro-poor my foot!

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