WARNING: This is Version 1 of my old archive, so Photos will NOT work and many links will NOT work. But you can find articles by searching on the Titles. There is a lot of information in this archive. Use the SEARCH BAR at the top right. Prior to December 2012; I was a pro-Christian type of Conservative. I was unaware of the mass of Jewish lies in history, especially the lies regarding WW2 and Hitler. So in here you will find pro-Jewish and pro-Israel material. I was definitely WRONG about the Boeremag and Janusz Walus. They were for real.
Original Post Date: 2008-06-23 Time: 15:00:04 Posted By: Jan
By Lindsay Dentlinger
Cape Town ratepayers will almost certainly be paying 35,9 percent more for electricity as from next Tuesday, and not the 20 percent extra announced by the city council last month.
Only those consuming less than 400kWh (kilowatts/hour) a month will be spared the massive increase, but even they still face an increase of 15,2 percent.
The latest increases came after last week’s decision by National Energy Regulator of SA (Nersa) to allow Eskom an average 27,5 percent increase from July 1.
But the city’s mayoral committee member for finance, Ian Neilson, told a special Mayco meeting this morning that the price that municipalities, as bulk consumers, would pay Eskom for electricity supply was in effect 35,9 percent.
The latest Nersa tariff approval replaced the 15,2 percent increase it granted Eskom in December, which had not yet been passed on to consumers.
The council would lose R400-million a year if it did not raise the price of electricity even higher than originally proposed.
Neilson said the council had the option of implementing the originally planned 20 percent increase on July 1, and then applying to raise the tariff again in October, by another 20,08 percent.
By increasing the electricity tariff now and averting another increase later in the year, ratepayers would have to bear the brunt of a one-off increase of 35,9 percent as from July 1.
Both scenarios would result in an average increase in the price of electricity of 35,9 percent for the 2008/09 financial year.
The city advertised the scenario approved by Mayco on Monday for public comment in April, before the 2008/09 budget was approved at the end of last month. The option of implementing two increases of 20 percent each has yet to be advertised.
By law, municipalities are only permitted to increase tariffs once a year.
The full council is expected to endorse Mayco’s decision on Wednesday.
Nersa had ordered that consumers supplied at the Domestic 2 (low consumption) tariff, who are eligible for the free basic supply of 50kWh, not be required to pay more than 14,2 percent extra for electricity in the next financial year.
But the City of Cape Town is proposing that this category of consumer instead pay 15,2 percent more, to allow the council to recoup its costs.
Neilson said the city had already suggested this planned increase to Nersa, and deemed it acceptable as the city’s low consumption users would then pay 49.46c/kWh compared to consumers supplied directly by Eskom, who would pay 51.7c/kWh at Eskom’s Homelite 1 20A tariff.