ZESCO has confirmed the removal of subsidies on electricity connection fees which has seen an upward adjustment from K1,700 to K6, 995 for high-density undemarcated townships.
ZESCO has also increased the cost of meter separation from K750 to K6000.
ZESCO Corporate Affairs Manager John Kunda says the removal of subsidies on new connections and meter separation fees is with immediate effect.
Dr. Kunda explains that the removal of subsidies does not require the Energy Regulation Board-ERB to approve as it is reflected within the parameters of ZESCO limited.
He says what ZESCO has done is to remove the subsidy, which cushioned the cost of connections and reduced the cost, but going forward customs will with immediate effect be required to pay the true reflective cost of the connection.
Life mu nyudoni yakosa. Ba 2.8 will be quick to justify this.
This will bite!
#plant a tree now please!
ZESCO is struggling like all of us, it also does not desire a hike but it is inevitable, the costs that ZESCO has are enormous
Very sad. Government Companies are there to cushion the vulnerable people. People should forget of ever having power in their homes. Dr Kaunda had warned of the coming of these times.
That is the way to fix the economy. Oh how about connection fees of water line, when are you going to fix it?
What ever language ….”cost reflective ,Market related” and any other connotations in your vocabulary. The simple truth is that you are asking us to pay more. We are no f.o.o.l.s
Nyudoni….govt at work. We warned you.
IMF stupid instructions ma rubbish.
Will this be accompanied by prompt installation of electric power once the high connection fee is paid? Secondly, how is this distributed exactly among the requisite materials?
Solar cabe ma fella. I hope they don’t start charging fees on privately arranged solar energy initiatives.
I like how they do there announcements (ati with immediate effect) they have no remorse To the consumer whatsoever!!! Can someone at least make this announcements before hand to let ppl have time to think on how they’re going to deal with the situation!! Not just like someone woke up in the morning and make announcement on such a very challenging and difficult issues!! And why so high increase, what is the shenanigans behind all this!! does it mean no load shedding and other interruption occurring in future!!! Let’s ask question and get to know what’s going on!!!
Bally is fixing
At the rate UPND is going, I fear for the poor of Yahweh.
This is totally poor governance , any government looks after bettering lives for it’s citizens, now we are in a crisis and poverty coming in mightly, nothing to hope for
Where are the youths please show us the way.
Another very good reason to immediately switch to SOLAR. And soon Zesco will remove the subsidies on the tariffs, accompanied by hefty increases; the tariffs will go up by 80-100%, maybe even more when the depreciation of the Kwacha continues and the inflation stays at 20.3%. DUMP ZESCO, GO SOLAR!
@ Deja Vu
Perfect timing…and am about to connect to the Zesco grid….Demagogue President HH….is this what Zambians voted for
These are the types of stories that Saulosi and Deja Vu get very excited about…where are you about to connect to Zesco in Washington? Really laughable so the fee has put you off
This is another reson why ZESCO should be unbundled to encourage competition ..can you imagine what would happen if ZAMTEL said their SME cards would cost K1000.
In Nigeria they would simply say thunder fire you UPND government.
They simply fail to realize that they were voted for by the poorest of Zambians whose only hope was to have everything for free. You killing your own people.
No Corruption Zambia – In the long term Solar is by far cheaper but to power a cooker and geyser or water bolier in a 3 bed house you need more panels and the new generation solar panels are efficient yet very costly. Yes it pays for itself after 3 years when its levels out with cost of energy bill.
Please devise a method of applying a hybrid model where low density areas must pay K6000 and high density can move to K3000. We know and understand that truly ZESCO has huge over heads, to run such a company is capital intensive and cost of spare parts are always going up, I run a business and I truly understand what ZESCO is going through but cushion the high density areas
UPND is being realistic, different from PF which was running a populist organization and this led to compromise of service delivery by ZESCO. The other suggestion would be that you connect at the old rate and factor in the difference in each subsequent payment of power so as to give relief to customers . PF left this country in a mess and most people wont afford, the problem is not with Zesco but previous government, how does a Priest become a board chairman, no wonder past board chairmen like Chitala have started revealing things, though too late the hero
Every thing is going up globally, the increase is not ZESCO’s fault, however the problem is our social status, where such a rich country has been crippled by politicians and people are under paid, the country has no industries and unemployment is the biggest single problem Zambia has, and people can not simply afford , ZESCO will look like the bad boy and yet it is a company that also has to survive and keep rendering a service. The bad boy is the previous governments. Let ZESCO hike but with a flexible payment plan for our people after connections are done
Mr Buffet and his team can afford to pay for that five star hotel dinner. Why you like crying?We can all afford.How?
This government is a disgrace in the sight of God and man, surely after promising the people of Zambia cheaper things,low cost of fuel, business etc honestly how on earth do you adjust fees from K 1700 to K7000 it’s madness in the highest..! Anyway dem.ons are real
This is what happens when you get a Govt that cannot distinguish their right from their left. They should explain or outline the cost of what they they incur by connecting new customers. Otherwise this is theft by Govt from its citizens. If some citizens are able to provide whatever is required then ZESCO will only incur fuel cost to and from site and a days wage for a technician to do the job. Whether or not this will translate to K7000 it is a question Hakainde must answer, the back stops at him just like it did for Lungu.
stanslous – Its strange how people are complaining as if poor people are home owners or developers who connect homes everyday yet they are tenants …its the cost of meter separation being increased that is more concerning as this to ZESCO should be seen as more of maximising revenue when meter is separated in a business premises hence keep the cost of separation low and disconection costs to a minimum. I have a business premises where tenants are at each other throats when it comes to paying the bill so even when our electrician has separated the connections in readiness for ZESCO they are nowhere to be seen because you need to pull some strings at ZESCO for that to be done quickly. ZESCO needs to be unbundled and dont let them be involved in the retail side, let them be involved in…
be involved in generation and distribution….I would go further to break up ZESCO into four regional companies.
Blaming PF as usual muzanya manzi
K1,700 connection fee was a stupid idea from the beginning. That’s why Zesco, despite having market monopoly was always broke and mismanaged..
K10,000 would be a more sensible economical rate; K6,000 is still too low when you study regional comparisons
That’s like paying to just enter shoprite before you even buy anything.
#15 Tarino Orange. How can I get excited when I am adversely affected? Only a pea brained person can think like that. My trips to the farm have been reduced because of the fuel price hike….so to you this is exciting? Come on man, you took on government without a plan and now you are confused. People in low income… majority of my relatives… have no hope of electrifying their properties… that’s exciting?
Couldn’t agree with you more only challenge with solar currently are heating appliances,but even there there are new innovations.Kenya did this,many companies responded by installing own solar plants and Kenya Power has made losses three years consecutively, power demand fallen and charges lowered.People don’t have the money ZESCO is and will be demanding,since we all need power viable alternatives will have to be found.
Do I hear someone here say it’s the cheapest in the region? But what has happened to the MOST EXPENSIVE IN THE REGION campaign slogan?
After seven years of loadshedding here is the price you have to pay: over 200 percent increase!
Shuwa twachula mu zambia
This was expected. What do you expect when there are no subsidies and all costs are to be borne by consumers?