Deadline alert: Last chance to submit comments on Eskom’s R76bn ‘mistake’ recovery

Electricity consumers are being urged to have their say on the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) consultation paper in relation to the allowable revenue for Eskom and its applicable tariffs for the 2026/2027 and 2027/2028 tariff years.

The deadline for comment is Wednesday, January 21 at 4pm. At stake for consumers is much higher electricity tariffs due to a calculation mistake made by Nersa.

At issue is calculations that Nersa is mandated to conduct to determine Eskom's allowable revenue determination. Based on this calculation, Nersa confirms Eskom's tariffs. However there was an error made by Nersa and they then agreed to correct this and confirmed a settlement with Eskom with an amount of R54 billion mentioned.  

They approached the Gauteng High Court to have this settlement agreement made an order of the court but the court in December rejected the agreement that would have allowed Eskom to increase electricity tariffs by almost 9% annually.

Judge Jan Swanepoel refused, and he remitted the matter back to Nersa, with the order that the public must be consulted before a final determination is made. Nersa has since published a consultation paper on the matter.

But it has been reported that in Nersa's consultation paper the amount being discussed has risen sharply from R54 billion to R76 billion, meaning tariff adjustments would have to be much higher.

Dear South Africa founder Rob Hutchinson has urged the public to make their voices heard.

“Reports indicate that these calculation errors amount to a R76 billion mistake—a cost that the current proposal seeks to recover directly from electricity users., instead of this error being absorbed, you and I are being asked to foot the bill through higher tariffs to cover "depreciation" and "returns" that were previously omitted.”

He said consumers should ask themselves:

• Should you pay for NERSA's calculation errors?
• Should you pay full price for aging, unreliable infrastructure?
• Should consumers fund Eskom’s cash flow and construction delays?

How to comment:

The consultation paper is available on NERSA’s website at www.nersa.org.za, under Electricity, Consultation. The closing date for written comments is January 21, 2026 at 4pm. 

Written comments must be:

• emailed to mypd@nersa.org.za;
• hand-delivered to 526 MadibaStreet, Arcadia, Pretoria; or
• posted to PO Box 40343, Arcadia, 0083, Pretoria, South Africa

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