ERA Approves New Electricity Tariffs For 2021 3rd Quarter.
Written by Editor on July 9, 2021
The Electricity Regulatory Authority (ERA) has approved new electricity End-User Tariffs to be charged by UMEME Limited for the supply of electrical energy in the billing period from July to September this year. This was made public by the Director, Corporate and Consumer Affairs at ERA, Julius Wandera in a press release dated July 9. The new electricity tariffs indicate a remarkable reduction across consumer categories with the exception of street lighting.
The Chief Executive Officer of ERA, Eng Ziria Tibalwa Waako, revealed that the reduction in the tariffs of commercial consumers and medium industrial consumers is a deliberate effort by ERA to support
the small and medium-sized businesses to recover from the adverse effects of the COVID-19 pandemic thereby contributing to the recovery of the economy.
“The commercial consumers and medium industrial consumers are the biggest direct beneficiaries of the reduction in tariffs applicable for the period July to September 2021, with a reduction as much as UGX 23.2 per unit and UGX 29.1 per unit of electricity consumed for the two consumer categories respectively,” Waako said.
According to the new tariffs, domestic consumers will pay IGX 250 for the first 15 units under the lifeline tariff and pay UGX 747.5 thereafter for the next units purchased, a reduction from UGX 750.9 in the previous quarters.
“Commercial consumers will pay UGX 616.6 from UGX 639.8, medium industrial consumers will pay 526.9 from 556.0, large industrial consumers will pay UGX 355.0 from UGX 361.0, Extra large industrial consumers will pay UGX 300.2 from UGX 301.7 while the tariff for street lighting has been maintained at UGX 370.0,” Wandera explained.
The approved electricity end-user tariffs represent a weighted average reduction of 2 percent, relative to the tariffs of the second quarter of 2021. They are attributed to these factors; appreciation of the Uganda shilling against the United States dollar, increment in the international fuel prices, the total quarterly energy expected to be purchased by UETCL which is 1,220.32 Gwh and the water release at the Nalubaale-Kiira generation complex.
In line with the quarterly tariff adjustment methodology that was approved by ERA in 2014, the authority sets out an annual base tariff at the beginning of each calendar year. The base tariff is adjusted by ERA on a quarterly basis to provide for changes in the Macroeconomic factors, namely; the consumer price index, the exchange rate of the Uganda shilling against the United States dollar, international fuel prices and the energy generation mix.
