Last week’s announcement of a substantial increase in electricity prices for the next three years, has left South Africans concerned about whether they will be able to afford power in the future.
Last week’s announcement of a substantial increase in electricity prices for the next three years, has left South Africans concerned about whether they will be able to afford power in the future.
But the increases have not come without alternative options from Eskom for a cheaper energy supply. Eskom’s Renewable Energy Portfolio Manager, Cedric Worthmann said that solar energy is an obvious alternative to electricity and it is up to South Africans to take the initiative to change their energy consuming ways.
The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) announced that Eskom’s tariff hikes will increase by 24.8% on 1 April this year, 25.8% in 2011 and 25.9% in 2012.
Eskom did apply for a 35% tariff increase in each of the next three years in order to fund a power expansion programme.The reduced hikes granted by Nersa will put Eskom under pressure to fund the programme which is expected to cost R358-billion.
Although the lower rate is better for South Africans, it is still a big increase in electricity costs for consumers to afford.To compensate, Eskom is awarding rebates to citizens who use solar energy to heat water.
This is to make environmentally friendly solar water heaters affordable in order to reduce their energy costs. Rebates of up to 120% are now offered by Eskom for a limited time.
Consumers will receive cash rebates of betweenR2 100 and R12 500. Worthmann said, “The increase was a response to present market conditions and will not be available for an indefinite period.”
Over the next five years the value of the rebates will be assessed according to energy costsannually. To qualify the water heating system must be tested by the SABS to be Eskomapproved and consumers must cover the cost of the system first and then claim the money.
Eskom says that rebates will be paid out within eight weeks of the application. Worthmann said: “We estimate that there are currently about 4.2-million electric geysers in the country and only 76 873 installed solar waterheating units.
Our aim is to encourage as many South Africans as possible to move away from electric geysers, and replace them with solarheated systems.
“The widespread adoption of solar-water geysers could also contribute significantly to achieving government’s objective of having 10 000- gigawatt hours of final energy consumption emanating from renewable resources,” he said.
This rebate system, he said, could “result in an increased number of households having their energy costs being cut by between 30 and 50%”.
However, the rebate system is financially out of the reach of many people. A local security guard, Thami Mbonda, said that there is a concern among the people he lives with, and in particular pensioners, that they will not be able to afford electricity with these increased prices.
“We only use electricity to boil the kettle and for the lights, we use paraffin instead to cook,” Mbonda said. He said that Eskom’s solar water heating project is something his community would not even consider as they could not afford it.
Another member of the Grahamstown community, Kamva Peter, said, “We have no choice but to pay for electricity even if it is expensive because we need it.” She said that she would not invest in a solar system as she would not be able to afford the initial cost.
