Eskom hits back at Ramaphosa on tariffs: Costs don't just disappear

Those "aggrieved" by the upcoming 18.65% electricity tariff hike will have to lodge a court application to challenge the energy regulator's decision, power utility Eskom has said. This comes days after President Cyril Ramaphosa told delegates at the African National Congress Free State provincial conference that he asked the power utility to halt the tariff hike amid ongoing loadshedding. The tariff is set to kick in April. skom indicated that the National Energy Regulator of South Africa is the only authority in the country that can set the price that consumers can be charged for electricity. Nersa also follows an "exhaustive" public participation process to get input from different stakeholders and considers the costs that Eskom will incur before deciding on the final outcome. "If Eskom does not recover from the consumer, then the burden on the taxpayer increases. Thus efficient costs will need to be recovered – they do not just disappear," the power utility said.