Eskom had applied for a 17.1% rise but the country’s industry had argued strongly for the regulator to reject Eskom’s application.
According to the Minerals Council, if Eskom had succeeded, 40% of mining, refining and smelting companies would have folded while annual gold mining output would have fallen from 132 tonnes to 20 tonnes and 150,000 direct jobs could have been lost across mining, smelting and refining.
Nersa’s announcement on Thursday to not grant Eskom its requested increase of 17.1% has been welcomed by industry as the power supplier continues to issue load-shedding schedules.