No, Department of Public Enterprises does not have such a policy in place allowing Eskom to charge 5 hectare smallholdings over R1 300 per day extra for electricity lines between 1 500 meters and 3 500 meters from the outskirts of towns, as if they were rural lines.
(a)
Based on the information provided in the question it is assumed that this customer resides on a small holding outside town which would be classified as rural. Rural are areas where there is low density typically one or a few customers per transformer and the Eskom “Rural” tariffs apply, whereas “Urban” refers to high density areas where transformers are shared by many customers, within towns or villages. These villages can be in remote areas, and typically are funded through the Integrated Electrification Programme.
Eskom has no tariff that charges R1300 per day for small power customers. The Eskom tariff does not specify a specific fixed charge for the size of the property, but rather based on the size of the supply and whether the area in which the connection takes place is classified as rural or urban for pricing purposes.
Eskom has urban residential tariffs with no fixed charges (Homelight) and rural tariffs that have no fixed charge (Landlight) and with fixed charges (Landrate). Refer to Appendix 1 for an extract of Eskom’s tariff book with regard to Homelight, Landrate and Landlight.
(b)
The Eskom tariffs are based on cost of supply studies, however it should be noted that Eskom tariffs and the application of rural and urban definition are approved by NERSA.
(i)
Not applicable
(ii)
Not applicable
Remarks: Reply: Approved / Not Approved
Mr. Mogokare Richard Seleke Ms. Lynne Brown, MP
Director-General Minister of Public Enterprises
Date: Date: