SA power price policy OK'd
15/05/2008 12:17  - (SA)  

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Cape Town - Cabinet has approved an electricity pricing policy which will be tabled at a electricity summit starting in Johannesburg on Friday.

The debate about how to finance the substantial build programme that Eskom needs to be completed in order to meet electricity requirements without putting pressure on inflation and, therefore, hitting the poor hardest, will be the focal point of discussion at the summit hosted by Nedlac.

Government is confident that pre-conference discussions will ensure a consensus is reached at the summit so that it goes down as "an important milestone in the process of building a strong partnership to manage the electricity emergency".

Cabinet's approval of the policy follows substantial pressure from trade unions not to increase electricity tariffs. It also follows SA Reserve Bank Governor Tito Mboweni calling for more innovative thinking to avoid the inflationary pressure of substantial increases.

The policy, according to a statement released after the cabinet's meeting, seeks to ensure: the electricity value chain contributes to economic growth; "universal access" to electricity; an investor-friendly pricing structure that promotes efficient cost-recovery measures and a reasonable return on investment; environmentally-friendly usage of resources; open and non-discriminatory access to the transmission system; and greater levels of transparency on electricity prices to the users.

Meanwhile, cabinet also approved a proposal to set up a national electricity emergency Programme Management Office (PMO) "with immediate effect".

"This office will be responsible for coordinating all efforts to deal with the emergency; tracking and reporting on initiatives; provide technical support and to ensure that the decisions of the National Electricity Response Team (NERT) on the electricity emergency are implemented," said government spokesperson Themba Maseko.

The PMO will be set up under the auspices of the department of minerals and energy and will include industry experts as well as officials seconded from government departments.

- Fin24.com

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