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increase.
The Zimbabwe Electricity Regulatory Commission on Thursday said the new tariffs had been approved by the Government.
Residents said the move to hike the tariffs was ill-timed and inconsiderate while others said the power utility needed to be capitalised through competitive pricing.
Mrs Sandra Mutemasango of Budiriro said people were finding it hard to pay electricity bills at the current rate and increasing tariffs would make it even more difficult. “Government should know that we want to pay but the charges are just too high. The new tariffs will make people reluctant to pay and at the end of the day, Zesa will stand to lose. Our economy is still on its knees and most people are paid an average of US$400 which makes it difficult for the people to pay because they have other commitments,” she said.
Mr Tobias Mkhandla of Glen Norah said: “If Government approved these tariffs then they are not considerate. They should know that we don’t have enough disposable income.”
A landlord who spoke on condition he is not named said the expense would be passed on to tenants. “We will just pass on the burden to our tenants who are underpaid and this will result in these people not performing well at work because of problems like these,” he said.
However, Mr Titus Dube of Highlands said there was nothing wrong with the increase considering that people needed power. “People have to know that we import some of the electricity from our neighbouring countries and they charge Zesa their normal rates, therefore for Zesa to subsidise us will result in making losses and we will forever have power cuts,” he said.
Mrs Rosemary Sibanda of Eastlea said: “If you look at the new charges, they are not that exorbitant you have to consider that if Zesa continues to give service at a loss then we will forever have load shedding.”
“We should stop this tendency of wanting things for free. Zesa is not performing at the moment because they have been subsidising us.”
ZERC announced that average tariffs would go up to USc9, 83 a unit from USc7, 53.
The new tariff means it will now cost almost a cent an hour to burn a 100W bulb and between USc10 and USc40 for cooking a meal on an electric stove depending on how many hot plates are used and whether these are turned down to simmer food once water has boiled.
Mr Peter Mufunda, ZERC administrator said the increase had been necessitated by the need to capitalise Zesa.
Meanwhile Zesa has managed to restore two units at Hwange Thermal Power Station, which will see the power utility improving its generation capacity.
Zesa Holdings spokesperson, Mr Fullard Gwasira last night said: “We hope the other unit should be back online this (Friday) evening.
“The fourth one should come through maybe tomorrow and customers should continue to conserve electricity because the load will still be heavy until we have all units back on track.”
Online Reporter