Brace yourself for tariff hikes as Eskom wins court battle against Nersa

By Antony Sguazzin

(Bloomberg) – Eskom, South Africa’s indebted power utility, won a High Court ruling against the nation’s energy regulator, which had blocked the company from recovering some costs it says it incurred during the 2019 financial year.

Eskom had asked the National Energy Regulator of South Africa for an 18.9% tariff increase to allow it to generate R219.5bn ($13.8bn) of revenue. Yet Nersa only allowed for R190.3bn of income, saying the power company should make up the difference by cutting costs.

The High Court in Pretoria said that Nersa had made errors in its determination, according to a copy of the ruling. Eskom has 60 days to apply to the regulator to increase the tariffs it can charge customers and the regulator must pay Eskom’s costs, the ruling said.