Africa-Press – Lesotho. Lesotho Electricity Company (LEC) will increase electricity tariffs by 10.4% (10.3727%) from 1st October 2021. This is per an agreement with Lesotho Electricity and Water Authority (LEWA) as was revealed at the
press conference on Tuesday. In accordance with the existing legal provisions, LEC submitted a tariff application in which it requested Revenue Requirement (RR) of M1.241 billion and a resultant tariff
increase of 30.9% for the financial year 2021/2022. Tariff reviews are conducted to ensure that regulated utilities charge appropriate tariffs to collect sufficient revenue to enable reliable and efficient operations at
affordable charges. Speaking at this press conference, LEWA Board of Directors Chairperson Relebohile Mosito indicated that in order to conform to the Covid-19 regulations and applicable
restrictions, LEWA requested stakeholders to submit written views, facts and evidence on the tariff application through social media platforms. He said comments
were received from various stakeholders and were reviewed during the process leading to the tariff approval. “The board of the LEWA met on 28 September 2021
to deliberate on the review of LEC’s tariff application for the financial year 2021/2022. In determining the application, the board resolved as follows; LEC
be allowed a Revenue Requirement (RR) of M1.07 billion instead of M1.241 billion requested by the company, the LEC’s tariffs be increased by 10.3727% for both
energy and Maximum Demand (MD) for all customer categories,” Mosito explained. He notified that the current charges for connection, wiring testing, wiring re-testing, survey, re-survey,
licensing for wiring, meter testing and house extension will remain the same and the approved tariffs be effective from 1 October 2021. Mosito informed that when
determining the application, LEWA considered several factors including but not limited to the prevailing socio-economic environment, sustainability of LEC,
the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and affordability. According to Mosito, the decision and reasons were based on the facts and evidence presented to the authority
by both the company and the public, including the prevailing social, economic and financial environment due to the impact of Covid-19 pandemic. He stated
that it was concluded that justification advanced by LEC for M 1.241 billion RR was not adequate. “Among other things, the authority took into consideration that
the allowed RR will be sufficient for LEC to operate effectively, pay imported electricity, replace its ageing infrastructure, carry-out repair and maintenance essential for the reliability of electricity supply,” Mosito said.
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