The Commission for the Regulation of the Energy Sector (CRSE) in Senegal has denied there is an imminent increase in electricity prices, stressing that the government is instead working to reduce them.
“The news is reporting a probable increase in fuel prices following the joint decree establishing the rate and basis of the fee of the Energy Sector Regulation Commission (CRSE). On the contrary, the government is working with all the departments concerned, under the supervision of the Ministry of Energy, Petroleum and Mines (MEPM), to reduce the price of petroleum products and electricity and to better target subsidies. The work is well advanced and the results will be communicated as soon as possible,” the CRSE said in a press release.
The document explains that the fee, established by article 26 of law no. 2021-32 of July 9, 2021, on the creation, organization and mission of the CRSE, and its implementing decree no. 2022-1593 of September 12, 2022, is intended to guarantee the operational autonomy and independence of the Energy Sector Regulatory Commission (CRSE), in line with similar practices in other sectors such as telecommunications or electricity at the regional level, in particular with the ECOWAS Regional Electricity Regulatory Authority (ARREC).
The fee has always existed and has been paid by electricity operators to the former Electricity Regulatory Commission since its creation in 1998. And with the extension of regulation to downstream hydrocarbon activities and the downstream and midstream gas segments, it seemed legitimate to extend the payment of this fee to operators in the newly regulated sectors.
“Moreover, the fee is designed to be fair and proportional to the activities of the regulated operators in the sectors concerned: electricity, downstream hydrocarbons, intermediate and downstream gas. In fact, none of the players holding an import, storage, transport and/or distribution license in the downstream hydrocarbon, intermediate and downstream gas sectors pays a royalty, as is the case in other sectors, while the CRSE ensures, among other things, that they are financially viable,” the press release continues.
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