President Cyril Ramaphosa proclaimed the official implementation date of the Electricity Regulation Amendment Act this past week but has delayed a part of the new legislation that has not gone down well with municipalities.
Among its provisions, the Act provides for the establishment of an independent system and market operator — the transmission system operator — to wheel and deal electricity with equal treatment of Eskom and private generators. , the implementation of the first clause of the bill has been delayed by three months pending further consultations.The South African Local Government Association and several metropolitan municipalities submitted a petition to the president asking that the first clause definition of “reticulation” in the clause be changed.
“That definition, in its nature, will limit the future scope of municipalities in providing electricity and limit it to the extent that it will negatively impact the sustainability of municipalities from a financial point of view,” said Joel.Joel Lance, Salga operations chief “We have to make a leap of faith,” McKay said. The bill is just a guide showing the direction we must go in, in determining the rules of how the market will function.”
Among the major advantages it will bring is in reducing the risk of future energy problems with a single point of failure — Eskom — by having a diverse mix of producers.