- June 10, 2016
- Erongo RED News
On Friday, 27 June 2014, the Chief Executive Officer of Erongo RED Robert Kahimise announced a 10.2% tariff increase for electricity for the period of 1 July 2014 to 31 July 2015. In his address at the press conference, Kahimise stressed that Namibia, as a country does not trade in isolation, but trades in the global business community. “We should be mindful that any global economic shift will have an impact on our economy as well as our business; for instance Namibia currently imports bulk of its energy from outside; any economic shift in these countries will influence our tariffs to the consumers,” Kahimise said.
He further said that currently Namibia imports on average about 60% of electricity from South Africa, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe and in the dry months of September, October and November up to 80% is imported.
“At Erongo RED, we are fully aware of the impact electricity increase has on our consumers and all other businesses. And as per the Board directives, we have looked into possible ways to make electricity affordable. All registered pensioners and low income segment on 30Amps breaker size have enjoyed cheaper electricity tariffs in Namibia at N$1.20 per kilo watt per hour. We have also installed pre-paid meters to this segment of our customers at no cost,” Kahimise added.
The Electricity Control Board (ECB) has granted Erongo RED effective average tariff increase of 10.2% for 2014/2015. Thus, as from the 1st July 2014 Erongo RED will pass on average tariff increases of 10.2% to the consumers. The 10.2% average increases, is the weighted average of different tariff categories applied to different groups of consumers in Erongo Region. However, all registered pensioners and low income segment on 30Amps breaker and below will receive ZERO tariffs increase.
Kahimise said that the reason for this increase is to ensure cost reflectivity and also to recoup 28 million for the on-going Walvis Bay Bulk upgrade. “When we were determining tariffs this year, we looked at various factors such as the impact of 15% increase by NamPower on Erongo RED, impact on end-users, envisaged capital projects. We also took into account the social and economic challenges of our customers,” Kahimise said.
Kahimise also appealed to all electricity consumers touse electricity sparingly especially in winter time (June, July and August) and during peak-time.
