Mera to consult on 99% electricity tariff hike

Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority (Mera) says it will from February conduct public hearings on the proposed 99 percent electricity tariff hike.

Mera chief executive officer Henry Kachaje said this yesterday at Parliament Building in Lilongwe when he updated the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament on the progress of the application for the tariff hike by the Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (Escom) and Power Market Limited (PML).

He said the application, submitted in August 2022, needed to be thoroughly analysed before the public gives input to the request.

Kachaje said: “Again, the tariff hike application this time around involves a number of companies who need to be engaged on the matter. In the past it was only Escom that was involved.

“This is the first time to have a tariff application with multiple stakeholders involved; hence, the assessment has taken longer than anticipated.”

Initially, Mera indicated that the process would be concluded by November 2022, but Kachaje said yesterday there were technical issues that needed to be reviewed.

He said customers also need to ask questions to fully understand why the power sector players are seeking tariff adjustment.

The public consultations are expected to be held in the country’s major cities of Blantyre, Lilongwe and Mzuzu.

PAC chairperson Mark Botomani commended Mera for ensuring that the proposed hike needs to be thoroughly analysed.

The power sector players are seeking a tariff hike to improve efficiency and to enable them to expand the power sector to ensure that more people are connected.

In the application, Escom has indicated that throughout the period of base tariff it faced a number of challenges, including low energy sales which were below target.

In the 2023-2024 year, the State utility firms proposed a K184.18 per kWh hike whereas in the 2024-2025 and 2025-2026 year the firms want a K210.59 per kWh and K249.15 per kWh increase.