The Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority (MERA) has refuted reports that it has approved a four percent tariff hike for Electricity Supply Cooperation of Malawi (ESCOM) per rumors going around in the media.
In one of the articles ,it said MERA approved the tariff hike based on the utility’s performance against Key Performance Key Indicators (KPIs).
But reacting to the article through a statement issued on June 21, 2022, MERA says it has not approved such tariff hike as the average electricity tariff still remains MK104.46 per kilowatt hour.
The energy regulatory body says the articles in the media left out the following important details:
That the 2018-2022 electricity base tariff determined in October 2018 was segmented into four annual tranches as follows: 20%,7%, _3% and 10% tariff adjustments for the first, second, third and fourth years, respectively.
That the 2021/2022 fiscal year is the fourth and final year of implementing 2018-2022 base tariff and with the previous years, ESCOM’s performance against agreed upon key performance had to be scrutinized to determine the applicability of the fourth base tariff tranche.
That last year, the MERA board determined that based on performance, ESCOM qualified for 4.17% instead of 10% tariff adjustment and that the increase was pended.
That a final determination on the implementation of the fourth tariff tranche is yet to be made.
Meanwhile, MERA says it will keep stakeholders and the general public informed of developments in energy regulation.
