Eskom chief executive André de Ruyter is pushing ahead with the unbundling of the debt-ridden state power utility, in a bid to attract private investment. De Ruyter said in a Digital African Utility Week webinar on Tuesday (24 November), that the unbundling will include the full separation of the utility’s three divisions: generation, transmission and…
South Africa’s ruling party has proposed using state-run unemployment and compensation fund surpluses to help rescue the country’s debt-laden power utility, raising the ire of labor unions. In discussion documents released late last week, the African National Congress said the Unemployment Insurance Fund and the Compensation Fund had combined surpluses of 225 billion rand ($15…
The Local Development and Economic Civil Association (LDECA)is enraged with the treatment they are getting from the City of Johannesburg. The association is taking the city to court over rental billing and meter tampering. They say they are tired of the city’s incorrect billing system. The communities include Eldorado Park, Ennerdale, Klipspruit, Klipspruit West, Bushkoppies,…
Durban – Consumers will have to brace for further double-digit electricity price hikes if Eskom’s application to the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) for recovery of R13.271 billion in revenue is approved. Eskom general manager Hasha Tlhotlhalemaje argued in the state-owned entity’s Regulatory Clearing Account application to Nersa for the liquidation of R13.271bn…
Durban – “WELL off” residents living on Ingonyama Trust Land within the eThekwini Municipality’s boundaries are not going to escape paying municipal rates and services for much longer, if the municipality has its way. City manager Sipho Nzuza said this week the city was in “talks” with the Ingonyama Trust to find a path that…
Eskom is in dire straits. It is saddled with more than R450bn in debt, has inadequate capacity and is dogged by mismanagement and endemic corruption. It must also contend with its dependence on coal for electricity generation, a main contributor to greenhouse gas emissions in SA. The solution put forward by the government is to…
The 50MW Bokpoort concentrated solar power (CSP) plant in South Africa has set a new African benchmark for renewable energy, becoming the first renewable project on the African continent to complete a full week of continuous, round the clock operation. The Saudi Arabian-based renewable energy developer ACWA Power says that the Bokpoort CSP plant achieved…
Over the weekend, claims started circulating that the utility would not be able to handle the volume of call-outs during the storm because contracts had ended on 31 October with service providers. JOHANNESBURG – City Power has disputed claims that it was facing a crisis because of a shortage of contractors to help carry out…
Eskom is defending its ‘foreclose’ on municipalities that owe it billions in overdue debt. Over the past few months, the struggling power provider has not been afraid to show its ruthless streak in clawing back the R31.5 billion owed to it as at the end of August by some municipalities and has thought nothing about…