DUMPING ESKOM? YOU’LL HAVE TO PAY TO RECONNECT

Wed 20 November 2024:

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Eskom plans to charge a fee for those wishing to reconnect to the grid after switching to alternative sources of energy.

This was revealed by Calib Cassim, the utility’s chief financial officer, in an interview with Newzroom Afrika on Wednesday.

“When a customer says they’re dumping Eskom, then it must be 24/4 365 days,” he said, referring to customers who are considering ditching Eskom for rooftop solar panels.

He said such customers should not expect to freely tap into Eskom’s grid as a “battery” whenever it suited them.

“If you’re going to use Eskom on a partial basis, and you need to come back to the grid when the sun is down and you don’t have solar or you don’t have wind, there needs to be cost and a charge for you then to have the luxury to tap into Eskom as the battery for the country.”

The reason why this was included in Eskom’s Retail Tariff Plan submission to the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA), he explained, was to cover infrastructure costs.

“The consumers that are 24/7 on the grid are going to pay for the entire infrastructure and these other customers that are going partially off are going to come in and get a free benefit, not paying for that infrastructure.”