Whoever said the only two things assured in life were death and taxes clearly wasn’t factoring in Zimbabweans. To that old saying, I think we can add ZESA Tariffs because we have seen a steady escalation of costs over last year. Most notably was the back to back 50% ZESA tariff hike we were all shocked by. Well… further expanding the void that is the Zimbabwean’s pocket, ZESA tariffs are set to go up by 25% according to Minister for Energy Zhemu Soda
“As you might be aware, we are importing power from outside the country especially during peak hours and more so during this time of the year in winter. Our power is imported at as high as US$0,24c per kilowatt-hour whereas we are selling that power from ZWL$07,67c per kilowatt/hour. In order for us to achieve what we are envisioning to provide adequate power and sustainable electricity, there is a need for tariffs to be reviewed.”
Minister Zhemu Soda via ZBC TV
According to a report by The Chronicle, plans are well underway to bring the current tariff per unit up from 7.5cents (US$) to 10 cents (US$).
It’s worth noting that from a business perspective this make sense. ZESA has been struggling to service its various obligations and bringing tariffs up is a logical course of action. However, on the consumer’s side there has been very little in the way of relief when it comes to wading through the lockdowns and restrictions that were a feature of last year and this one.
The informal sector especially is still recovering and this proposed 25% tariff hike will do little to help the millions of Zimbabweans warm their homes and keep the lights on this winter…
Click the link below for ZESA tariffs as of the 26th of May 2021
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13 comments
I think renewable energy is a way to Go
If serious they would have start an investment as country with the Consumers in mind we are not worried to Pay even more per kilowatt knowing that in 3 years we will be exporting the Electricity…..
Wind turbines in the Eastern parts of our Country
The Solar power Station in surrounding National Parks
Replace all Thermal power stations with Renewable Energy
But this requires Transparency and well organised steps if we are going with Wind Turbines first then lets go with it not to try everything at once
Rome was never built in 1 day but why not try to go with Renewable Energy rather than investing in Nuclear power we heard some months back
The price hike is okay but will it fix the problem in the long Run?
Its a question that requires an answer
I think it’s cheaper to install solar farms then to go for wind turbines. Considering the fact that we are land locked and the rate of wind that we get is far less than sunshine.
Typical poorly managed ZESA would rather import at huge cost + foreign currency than pay households who have excess solar power on roofs that could feed into grid. Instead of real incentives (like every other country) they charge VAT etc then come up with a ‘credit units’ scheme for net metering. Absolutely crazy in want me to invest US$$ in my equipment and generate power every day, they charge consumer for my power and give me ZESA units as credit??!! I produce my own power- don’t need same power units. Lousy and lazy policy implementation
The zesa tariff is too low at least a 50% increase is better
Vele mntwana wenja uyinja
It’s very low to you not to us. Now we’re using electricity for lights and fridge only. 70% of electric users can’t afford to use heavy electric gadget, stove iron
As has happened before, no matter how much the increase, the supply never improves! Have gone solar here for just about everything now. It’ll pay for itself fairly soon, as this lot just keep increasing the price, provide less and even when it’s on, the voltage is not always 220 – 240! Most of the increase appears to go towards new cars and other perks for the brass there in any case…
I have yet to see any improvement after their tariff increases. It’s been like that for decades! Cost goes up, but the service never notably improves.
The increase is NOT 25% BUT 33,33%!!!
2,5 cents increase on 7,5 cents is a third not a quarter! Basic Error!!
Please add a “REPORT” button on the comments.
Regardless how consumers are faring, the solution is either a tariff increase or load shedding.
If we have heavy load shedding, everyone will be howling about the business impact and the cost of running generators.
On the other hand, with a tariff increase, you can manage your power usage yourself and power is there as and when you need it.
Zesa should collect all that is due to it, especially from government departments, parastatals and farmers.
Is this fair?