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call for an immediate end to the power utility’s monopoly if electricity supply is to improve.
Former Zesa acting chief executive officer Engineer Francis Masawi yesterday said the power utility was losing almost US$500 million because of load-shedding and at least US$100 million owing to its billing system.
He said Zesa’s billing system was in shambles.
Eng Masawi – who is now a consultant – said this during a public hearing conducted by the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on State Enterprises and Parastatal management that convened a meeting of stakeholders to get views on the performance of Zesa Holdings.
The former Zesa boss, who was giving expert analysis to the committee on behalf of the Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce, said there was need to implement provisions of the Electricity Act that allowed more players in the sector.
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He said Zesa generated 7,267 GiGawatts hours in 2010, which cost US$552 million but it collected US$469 million, making a loss of US$83 million owing to billing challenges.
Energy demand for the year stood at 13,221 GW, but the power utility had generated 8,482 GW, leaving energy not served and load-shedded at 5,854 GW.
This resulted in the power company making a loss due to load-shedding at US$439 million.
The figure translates to a cumulative US$642 million loss.
“These are huge losses, which any normal business would seriously agonise over,” said Eng Masawi who is director of Energy and Information Logistics Group, a consultancy firm.
He said the existing transmission grid was a natural monopoly so the Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company could remain Government owned.
New power companies will still have to use the national grid in transmitting their electricity to their customers, with Zesa charging them a small commission.
A US$600 million ethanol plant in Chisumbanje, a joint project between the Government through the Agriculture Rural Development Authority and Green Fuel Private Limited, will contribute 18,5 Megawatts.
Zesa Holdings and Green Fuel Private Limited have already signed an agreement to be implemented this month that will seed the bio fuel company supplying feeding 18,5 Mega-watts into the national grid.
“Bulk energy trading should be taken over by the private sector, retail supply business must be run by the private sector company so as to make the sector bankable,” he said.
Eng Masawi called for a national vision guiding both the public and private sector coupled with policy consistence focusing on wealth creation and not wealth distribution.
Government broke monopoly in the telecommunications sector, a situation that has translated into immeasurable benefits to ordinary people as more players came in.
Other stakeholders slammed Zesa Holdings for high tariffs, excessive load shedding, corruption by some its employees, failure to conduct proper meter reading, huge salary structures for senior managers among other shortcomings resulting in poor performance.
During the hearing chaired by Zvishavane – Runde MP, Cde Larry Mavhima (Zanu-PF) – councils requested for concessionary tariffs saying they were running “a special industry” of water pumping and se-wage reticulation.
During the meeting, local autho-rity representatives requested that they get concessionary electricity tariffs from the power utility for the-ir water pumping and sewer reticulation work.
Town Clerks’ forum vice chairperson, Mr Winslow Muyambi, ar-gued that they administered a special industry – that of water pumping and sewer reticulation that they provided as a social obligation.
“Water and sewer needs a special tariff because these are non-profit making entities.
“As local authorities we run these special industries 24 hours a day and our plea is that we have concessionary tariffs,” said Mr Muyambi who is also Norton chief executive officer.
Several stakeholders who included the Harare Residents Trust, Consumer Council of Zimbabwe and the Commercial Farmers’ Union took turns to berate Zesa Holdings for untenable tariffs that they said were not consistent with what people were earning.
They accused some Zesa Holdings employees of corruption saying consumers were asked to pay bribes in return for an illegal reconnection if power had been disconnected for non-payment.
CFU representative, Mr Mark Wil-son, complained that load-shedding by Zesa was seriously affecting win-ter wheat production.
“Any power cut or interruption will jeopardise yields. We are not afraid to pay what we have consumed but we are afraid to subside inefficiencies,” he said.
Other ordinary residents complained that they could not afford electricity bills owing to the low salaries most people were getting.
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