ENERGY EXPERT BACKS ZESCO’S APPLICATION TO ERB FOR AN UPWARD REVISION OF CONNECTION FEES
By Chileshe Mwango
Energy Expert Johnstone Chikwanda has backed power utility company; ZESCO Limited’s application to the Energy Regulation Board –ERB- for an upward revision of connection fees for standard connection.
Mr. Chikwanda explains that since 2005, Zambia has not had any hikes in connection fees while prices of connection materials such as wires, conductors and the exchange rate among others have significantly risen.
He notes that failure to fairly respond to ZESCO’S request will worsen the impact on the company and that the backlog of customers waiting to be connected will grow further.
Mr. Chikwanda in an interview with Phoenix News observes that Small and Medium Enterprises in the country will also be impacted negatively if connection fees are not adjusted as they make up the number of those on the waiting list.
ZESCO recently applied to the ERB to revise connection fees for standard connections for three customer categories saying it has had challenges to promptly connect new applicants for electricity resulting in a backlog in new connections of 67,000 as at 31st December 2021.
It attributes the backlog in new connections to the lack of cost reflective connection fees for standard connections which according to ZESCO are up to ten times below the actual cost of connection in some cases.
PHOENIX NEWS