Africa-Press – Zambia. ZESCO Limited has claimed that the leaked document suggesting that the power utility has upward adjusted electricity connection fees and separation of meters was concocted.
Featuring on Radio Phoenix’s Let the People Talk Show on Tuesday; Zesco Public Relations Director Dr. John Kunda said the firm has not adjusted fees for electricity connection fees or separation of meters.
Over the weekend, the Energy Regulation Board (ERB) described as null and void any change in ZESCO’s connection charges in whatever form or structure, as reported on various media platforms.
Dr. Kunda said the Energy Regulation Board (ERB) is the only body that can approve any tariff or connection fee adjustments. He described the recent controversy surrounding the alleged upward connection fee adjustment as ‘just an internal memo’ issue.
Dr. Kunda said electricity connection fees are determined by many factors. Meanwhile, Dr. Kunda says Zesco will clear the current backlog of over 60,000 applications for new connections before the end of the year, some of which have been piling up since 2017.
He said the poor utility is currently mobilizing funds to ensure the current backlog is dismantled and that clearing will be done on a first-come-first-serve basis.
Dr. Kunda said Zesco was aware that the demand for both domestic and commercial power supply in Zambia has continued to expand and in that connectivity remains key to influencing human settlement and growth of economic activities
“When we come to the issue of connections, when you apply for a connection, what happens is that we send a team to assess the requirements. The quantum of materials that are required and we are going to quote you based on that and that has not changed. It remains the same. When we issued a statement after we had seen it all on social media, we made it very clear that nothing has changed. There is no adjustment to the connection fees and that is our official position. And we even said we halted the processing of non standard quotations until we are guided by the Energy Regulation Board and that statement is in the public domain,” Dr. Kunda said.
“I hope that clarifies, currently there is no increase, no increase whatsoever, we even halted the issuance of you know standard connection processes but in terms of what you are paying if you are in Avondale and you decided to get a connection, there was a man who called from Avondale who was building, he was charged somewhere around K5, 000 and that was based on the scopes of work. The scope of work will determine and they will vary depending on what you need. If you need 100 meters of cable you will be charged differently, if you require a pole the charge will be different with someone who requires a pole but the fact of the matter is that this is how we have been doing it and we base on market value and we will say that in the system,” he said.
Dr. Kunda added:”When you leak the document without other supporting documents and then scream that they have increased, all you need is to go and apply, see the process that is being used and then you can say how come? I think it has changed from the process you were following before. Then we can explain to you but we have not released a statement to the effect of having increased any tariff. It was a concoctional document, speaking to how we operate and how we are going to operate. Zesco Limited is a corporate entity and we know what the provisions are for us to effect any changes to tariffs and that is known. So when you are dealing with planning documents, they are planning and internal.”
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