(Last Updated on September 24, 2020 by GERALD NCUBE)
HARARE – The Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC) on Wednesday raised electricity tariffs by 50% and cautioned customers to expect monthly reviews.
The reviews will be done in line with inflation and currency exchange rate flactuations.
In a statement, the power utility company said the adjustments were “in accordance with the tariff award of October 2, 2019, which approved implementation of a monthly tariff indexation (combination of inflation and currency exchange rate) for changes above 10 percent.”
Earlier this week, ZESA said that it’s “sub-economic tariffs are by far the lowest in the region.” The company adding that this was making it struggle to generate power or finance imports.
Former Minister, Fortune Chasi had introduced a new band (201 to 300kWh) which is used by most households to ease the burden of many struggling families. However, users in this band will see an increase from 2.94 per kilowatt to $4.41 per kilowatt.
The country is still facing power shortages due to dilapidated equipment at Hwange Power Station and low water levels at Kariba Dam limiting power generation.
Zimbabwe also owes South Africa and Mozambique making it hard to also access more power imports.
The new tariffs will certainly add more burden to citizens who are already struggling as their salaries remain stagnant and lose value due to inflation that is now at over 700%.