The Sierra Leone Electricity and Water Regulatory Commission (SLEWRC) on Thursday, 21st September, 2023, organized a day’s public hearing for the proposed increase in tariff for the Electricity Distribution and Supply Authority (EDSA) from 11-21 dollars.
The well-attended meeting at the Freetown City Council Hall on Lightfoot Boston Street in Freetown was graced by various stakeholders including the Sierra Leone Labour Congress, the Consumer Protection Agency Sierra Leone, the Consumer Protection Council, the Sierra Leone Standards Bureau, the 50/50 Group, Africell and the Ministry of Information and Civic Education.
In his welcome address, the Director-General of the SLEWRC, Dr. Emmanuel Mannah said hisCommission is the regulatory agency for EDSA and acts as the referee between consumers and EDSA, that they would listen to the comments and concerns of all stakeholders as well as seek the best interest of all before making an informed decision, that they also issue licenses to service providers as well as adequately educate the public on their operations.
Dr. Emmanuel Mannah further enlightened that SLEWRC is an autonomous entity establishedby an Act of Parliament and recalled 2010 when the need arose to unbundle and reform the distribution, supply and regulatory responsibilities of the former National Power Authority.
He continued that the Commission is people-centered with eight (8) board members representing various professional organizations including the Sierra Leone Labor Congress, a management team with five departments including the Electricity, Water, Legal and Complaints and Economic Regulations.
The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Energy, Mr. Samuel Gbetuwa observed that they have not discussed increase in electricity tariff for a long time stressing that the importance of electricity cannot be overstated and that it is very expensive to produce electricity.
According to the Permanent Secretary, electricity is provided by the Kowpowership, Bumbuna Hydro–Electric Dam and other Independent Power Providers (IPPs) but lamented that it is a challenge to pay them monthly as they rely heavily on government to subsidize them and therefore appealed to SLEWRC for an increment in tariff.
The Chairman of the event and a member of the Board of SLEWRC, Mr. Saidu Bockarie assured that they would listen attentively to all the stakeholders for a review of the tariff, admonished stakeholders to make salient inputs, assured that they would seek the interest of all and observed that they would ensure that EDSA is sustainable and profitable as well as provide quality service.
In his presentation, Mr. Brima Bah of SLEWRC highlighted the methodology of the tariff process, informed that this is the fourth public hearing on increase in tariff, that they received the increase in tariff application from EDSAthat was published verbatim in the gazette and in three major newspapers for the public to respond within 21 days before the public hearing is organized.
He also dilated on the rate of return and high breed approaches respectively, cost of electricity purchase by IPPs, their assets, debts owned and revealed that government’s yearly subsidy to EDSA is 50 million dollars.
Mr. Mustapha Sannoh, Chief Finance Officer, EDSA in his PowerPoint presentation revealed that the Authority is mandated to procure light from Independent Power Providers (IPPs), that most of the industries in the country are located in the East of Freetown, assured that by the end of the year the provision of electricity would improve from the peak load of 70 to 100 megawatts and that they are also addressing technical challenges.
He continued that last year, EDSA collected 600 billion and 7.2 billion up to August this year which he affirmed is a drop in the ocean, recalled that in 2019 they applied for a review of the tariff, disclosed that the fuel bill for Kowpowership has increased from 220,000-500,000 thousand dollars and that all businesses have increased prices since July last year.
According to Mr. Mustapha Sannoh, other factors for the increase in tariff are increase in the cost of fuel, domestic inflation, that the current tariff is not sustainable, that EDSA pays IPPs in dollars, that it costs 3.9 trillion dollars yearly to provide electricity nationwide, that between 70%-80% of the revenue generated by EDSA goes to IPPs and that the tariff of consumers in the provinces is three times higherthan those in the Western Area.
He went on to assure that with the increase, EDSA would provide reliable and quality electricity as well as address the technical faults, improve its finances and commended government for doing extremely well to provide 26 million dollars to EDSA this year alone intimating that they want to reduce government subsidy completely.
Mr. Mustapha Sannoh continued that the ISLAP and JICA projects are to connect industries, that the access rate of electricity now has increased from 16-36%, that their projection is for 50% of the population to have access to electricity, reiterated that they are working to address commercial and technical losses, replacing faulty meters but lamented that institutions and individuals illegally extract electricity.
During the question and answer session, consumers raised several concerns including poor services provided by EDSA, poor customer care, that the meters are not calibrated, that EDSA is slow to respond to emergencies, that there is frequent power cuts and that due to the harsh economic situation in the country there should be no increase in tariff now.
Other stakeholders highlighted that the frequent power cuts damages their electrical appliances and that consumers are not compensated by EDSA, that the proposed increase in tariffs is untimely, that government should continue with its subsidy to EDSA, that EDSA should tap into solar, wind and bioenergy sources and that it is far better to have electricity at a higher cost than none at all.
At the end of the meeting, SLEWRC assured all that its final decision will be in the best interest of all stakeholders.
