MKOBA South legislator John Kuka has called on the government to consider charging local authorities non-commercial electricity tariffs, arguing that commercial rates are crippling service delivery.
Speaking in Parliament recently, Kuka said councils were not profit-making institutions, yet they were being charged commercial rates. He said that left them struggling to settle electricity bills despite providing essential public services such as water, sanitation and lighting.
He said non-commercial tariffs would reduce operational costs and allow councils to channel more funds towards service delivery.
“Local authorities are providing essential services such as water pumping, sewage management and street lighting, yet they are operating under severe financial constraints,” he said.
“Councils are not profit-making entities and there is a need for government and the Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company to consider a special tariff arrangement that allows them to continue delivering critical services without crippling their operations.”
Responding in the National Assembly, Energy and Power Development deputy minister Yeukai Simbanegavi said, while councils faced liquidity challenges due to low revenue inflows, the power utility could not afford to subsidise electricity supply to local authorities.
She said councils were struggling financially partly due to low revenue collection, but noted that the utility was operating under a cost-reflective tariff regime after years of non-cost-reflective pricing.
“The approved tariff methodology requires tariffs to be set at cost-reflective levels based on the actual cost of supplying electricity to each customer category,” she said.
- CCC activists trial starts
- CCC activists trial stalls, again
- Gokwe toddler drowns in well
- CCC Gweru poll nominees in tight contest
Keep Reading
“Currently, ZETDC does not have the financial capacity to charge local authorities tariffs below cost-reflective levels, as it needs to cover the full cost of supplying energy.”
Simbanegavi said some councils were exacerbating losses through ageing infrastructure and water leakages. She urged local authorities to adopt energy-saving measures instead of relying on subsidies.
She also said that at a recent Urban Councils Association of Zimbabwe meeting in Kadoma, ZETDC proposed participation in advanced net metering, which could qualify pumping stations for tariff incentives of up to 12%.
Under the programme, local authorities provide wayleaves for solar installations at pumping stations in exchange for reduced tariffs.
She warned that subsidising councils without Treasury support can worsen the utility’s financial position and risk a return to widespread load shedding, especially given the debts owed by local authorities.
Over the years, urban residents have complained of erratic water supply and poor street lighting, which councils partly attributed to high electricity costs and power cuts.
