Municipal Electricity Rate Increase Process

A couple of weeks ago, the City of Mbombela and most other municipalities, have embarked on a public consultation process regarding their proposed electricity tariff increase of 11,6%, effective 1 July 2026.

This process follows the publication of the timelines for municipal electricity tariff applications for the 2026/27 financial year, by NERSA.

On 5 March 2026, NERSA approved Eskom’s ERTSA application, as part of this decision, NERSA authorised a 9.01% tariff increase, which will be     effective from 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027.

Municipalities and distributions must now submit their electricity tariff        applications to NERSA by not later than 31 March 2026, hence the          consultation process which Mbombela initiated.  NERSA’s public             consultation process on municipal tariff applications will conclude on 21 April 2026.  NERSA will then finalise the consideration of the municipal   electricity tariff applications and communicate its decisions on or before 11 May 2026.  These timelines will ensure that NERSA consider the municipal tariffs timeously and will enable municipalities to implement approved tariffs on 1 July 2026 and in time for councils to approved the budgets on 31 May.

So, as you can see, the published proposed rate by the municipalities are not cast in stone and we appreciate all who have submitted their objections or support.  One should be mindful that there are other costs related to the distribution and maintenance of the municipal electricity system which sees increases higher than just the increase of electricity purchases.  This is why municipalities are usually allowed to increase the tariff by a higher           percentage as the Eskom direct purchase tariff increase.  Now we wait!