Power utility Zesa says local authorities have failed to adhere to a payment plan to pay off their $300 million debt. Zesa spokesperson Fullard Gwasira told NewsDay that the power utility had engaged the local authorities for a payment plan with no success.
BY TARISAI MANDIZHA
“Currently we are owed over $1 billion by our customers, this is all customers category, but of particular concern to the utility is the local authority debt. We feel that there is something that can be done on this debt, which is currently standing at $300 million, which is about 30% of the total debt,” he said.
Gwasira accused the local authorities of taking advantage of the fact they cannot be switched off.
“These are businesses taking advantage, as a utility, we are not switching them off all because it’s the water pumping stations and we are treating water as a valuable commodity. We have engaged them for payment plans, but regrettably most of the payment plan did not work,” he said
Gwasira however, said part of the debt by domestic customers was being liquidated through the 40% pre-paid purchase deductions and this has played a large part in addressing the cash-flow challenges.
Zesa has since started importing 300MW from South Africa’s Eskom to augment low local generation capacity at Kariba. Kariba produces 750MW at its peak, but its generation capacity has tumbled to 285MW due to low water levels in the dam.
Zesa subsidiaries recently proposed a 49% tariff hike to
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14,69 cents per kilowatt hour, which they say is cost reflective and necessary to augment emergency power imports.
Zimbabwe Power Company is proposing a 22% increase in power costs from 5,06 cents per kilowatt hour to 6,64 cents per kilowatt hour on sale to the distribution subsidiary, Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Centre (ZETDC).
On the other hand, ZETDC is proposing to sell power to consumers at 14,69 cents per kilowatt hour from 9,86 cents.
