ECB approves NamPower tariff hike
• Power supplier
wanted almost 17%
The hike is expected to further dent the finances of cash-strapped local authorities who owe the bulk electricity supplier in excess of N$1 billion collectively.
The Electricity Control Board (ECB) has granted NamPower a tariff hike, Namibian Sun has learnt.
A formal announcement in this regard is expected today.
The hike is expected to further dent the finances of cash-strapped local authorities who owe the bulk electricity supplier in excess of N$1 billion collectively.
The tariff hike ought to be much lower than the 16.87% the electricity supplier asked for. This follows a 7.3% increase granted last year and a 2.93% increase granted in 2021.
The ECB left tariff rates unchanged in 2020 while they were decreased by 3.11% in 2019 and increased by 5% in 2018.
NamPower, one of the country’s best performing entities over the years, finds itself in financial distress due to poor-paying clients. The power agency has now even gone as far as threatening to cut electricity supply to defaulting clients in the coming weeks.
Questionable methods
Namibia Association of Local Authority Officers (Nalao) president Moses Matyayi said the planned move by NamPower will adversely affect service delivery if implemented.
“We must recognise that the end users and consumers in each town will be adversely affected by this move. Businesses, hospitals, schools, prisons and old-age homes are part of those at the receiving end. I tend to believe that the intention is to collect arrears due to the supplier; however, the approach of collection and modality of publication are questionable,” he said.
He added that it was odd for NamPower to allow local authorities to accumulate debt, saying it is bound to leave some local authorities in a sticky situation with regards to honouring overdue obligations.
“Why would NamPower allow a local authority to accumulate such a debt beyond 90 days without taking drastic measures against the individual debtor?”
The proliferation of regional electricity distributors (REDs) also took away a vital revenue source for local authorities, Matyayi said.
“We have seen trimming of mandated services of local authorities such as electricity distribution being privatised through the creation of REDs, a move that was coercively chucked upon the throats of local authorities without considering the dire consequences of how it would affect their operations in general.”
A formal announcement in this regard is expected today.
The hike is expected to further dent the finances of cash-strapped local authorities who owe the bulk electricity supplier in excess of N$1 billion collectively.
The tariff hike ought to be much lower than the 16.87% the electricity supplier asked for. This follows a 7.3% increase granted last year and a 2.93% increase granted in 2021.
The ECB left tariff rates unchanged in 2020 while they were decreased by 3.11% in 2019 and increased by 5% in 2018.
NamPower, one of the country’s best performing entities over the years, finds itself in financial distress due to poor-paying clients. The power agency has now even gone as far as threatening to cut electricity supply to defaulting clients in the coming weeks.
Questionable methods
Namibia Association of Local Authority Officers (Nalao) president Moses Matyayi said the planned move by NamPower will adversely affect service delivery if implemented.
“We must recognise that the end users and consumers in each town will be adversely affected by this move. Businesses, hospitals, schools, prisons and old-age homes are part of those at the receiving end. I tend to believe that the intention is to collect arrears due to the supplier; however, the approach of collection and modality of publication are questionable,” he said.
He added that it was odd for NamPower to allow local authorities to accumulate debt, saying it is bound to leave some local authorities in a sticky situation with regards to honouring overdue obligations.
“Why would NamPower allow a local authority to accumulate such a debt beyond 90 days without taking drastic measures against the individual debtor?”
The proliferation of regional electricity distributors (REDs) also took away a vital revenue source for local authorities, Matyayi said.
“We have seen trimming of mandated services of local authorities such as electricity distribution being privatised through the creation of REDs, a move that was coercively chucked upon the throats of local authorities without considering the dire consequences of how it would affect their operations in general.”
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