Surplus electricity allows Umeme to offer tariff reductions

April 15, 2019 in Business, Energy, Hydro, Policy, Trade & Industry by Editor

ERA’s Waako said, “Right now, we generate more power than what we are consuming, but this is not a problem. Having more electricity is good for investment promotion.”

April 15—The Electricity Regulatory Authority (ERA) has approved Umeme’s tariff card for the second quarter which includes a reduced domestic rate for the first 15 units consumed.

Between April and June, domestic consumers will now pay UGX /Kwh 250 (less than one US) for the first 15 units and UGX/kWh 760.2 (20 US cents) for any additional electricity. This is slightly lower than the UGX/KWh 769 paid previously for the first quarter.

Umeme is the listed electricity distributor, currently holding a 20-year operating concession that ends during 2025. However the company, with just over a million customers, has already submitted an application to ERA for an extension.

“These 15 units are enough for a customer to light a bulb, charge a phone and watch TV. So, a customer in the village may only need those units for a month. We are very positive that that cost is very affordable for most people,” Ziria Tibalwa Waako the ERA Chief Executive Director has said.

She said electricity prices will continue to come down for all users in future once more people are connected to the national grid. Recently Isimba Dam was officially opened by President Yoweri Museveni adding another 183 MW.

She said, “Right now, we generate more power than what we are consuming, but this is not a problem. Having more electricity is good for investment promotion. We are also exporting some of this power to our neighbours and we are sure in future once we have connected more people to our national power grid, consumption will go up.”

Commercial consumers will be charged UGX/Kwh 875.6 on-peak and UGX/Kwh 416.2 off peak, this is slightly lower than UGX/Kwh 884.8 on peak and UGX/Kwh 433.9 off peak that they were charged for the first quarter of 2019

Medium industrial consumers will pay UGX/Kwh 783.0 on peak and UGX/Kwh 371.7 off peak compared to Shs/Kwh 790.8 on peak and UGX/Kwh 388.6 off peak charged previously.

Large industrial consumers will pay UGX/kW 487.2 on peak and UGX/Kwh 241.7 compared to UGX/Kwh 490.9 and UGX/Kwh 259.1 respectively.

The Extra Large industrial consumers will pay UGX/Kwh 414.3 on peak and UGX/Kwh 205.5 off peak  compared to UGX/Kwh 415.2 and UGX/Kwh 225.0 charged previously