adminLovemore Zigara Midlands Correspondent
Regency Fairmile Motel in Gweru has moved to cut its electricity bill by up to 46 percent after resorting to the use of gas stoves for cooking. The hotel has also begun installing solar geysers for its 52 rooms. The move by the hotel, a subsidiary of Zvobgo Holdings which also owns the Regency Flamboyant and Regency Chevron hotels in Masvingo comes as the country is facing mounting power challenges due to low power generation capacity. The government will next year ban the use of electric geysers and switch to solar-powered water heaters in a move aimed at saving up to 400 megawatts of power.
It has also urged industry to look for alternative sources of energy to help save power.
General manager of Regency Fairmile Motel, Pious Tshuma, told Business Chronicle that the high electricity bill which averaged $11,000 per month has gone down to about $6,000 per month as part of the hotel’s cost cutting measures. “We were quite worried as a hotel operator especially if you look at the number of rooms that we have. Our electricity bill was quite biting and averaged $11,000 per month.
“We had to introduce industrial gas stoves and we’ve also introduced solar geysers so that we’ve a significant and meaningful reduction of the electricity bill,” he said. “We’re happy that we’ve managed to contain the bill and it’s now averaging $6,000 per month and it’s that difference that we’re now generating that we’re channelling into other areas like sprucing up the hotel.”
The hotel has so far installed over 20 solar geysers and the exercise is expected to be completed at the end of the year. At the same time, room occupancy has risen to 70 percent at the Midlands province’s only three-star facility. Tshuma said the hotel was rattled by Gweru City Council’s move to increase water charges and rates by about 67 percent.
“The cumulative effect is that the move by council will only make the cost of doing business increase. “The resultant ripple effect is that we’ll be forced to pass the cost to the client for us to remain viable,” he said. “However, this is a double edged sword as our rates are already too high as compared to other countries in the region. We’ll therefore be forced to absorb the cost which will eat into our margins.”
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