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Nqobile Tshili, Chronicle Reporter

HUNDREDS of Bulawayo residents yesterday thronged the Zesa revenue Hall in the city in the mistaken belief that the power utility has a promotion to sell electricity at discounted tariffs on the first day of every month.

Residents apparently misinterpreted the new Zesa tariff structure designed to discourage domestic consumers from wasting electricity by levying punitive tariffs on those who buy more than 200 units in a month.

Consumers who spoke to The Chronicle said when they tried to buy electricity tokens last month, Zesa officials told them to come on the first day of this month for the cheaper 200 units. It turned out the affected people had exceeded the 200 units limit per month and were only eligible to buy the cheaper electricity this month.

In an interview yesterday, Zesa public relations manager Mr Fullard Gwasira said the power utility company has no electricity promotion but consumers need to understand the new tariff structure.

The power utility company last month introduced a new energy efficiency tariff structure to promote power conservation. “There is a misconception that there is a promotion at the start of each month yet the position is that the first 200 units for each month attract the lowest tariff. The tariff system that we adopted is meant to make electricity affordable as long as one does not exceeed 200 units in a month,” said Mr Gwasira.

The first 50 units for the first purchase are sold at 41 cents after that the tariff moves 91 cents for the 51-200 units.
Mr Gwasira said the tariff goes up to $3,86 per unit for those using beyond 200 units.

He said the first 50 units were sold cheaply because Government wants every citizen to have access to power and electricity becomes steeper as Zesa is of the view that consumers using more electricity could be involved in some economic activity.

Mr Gwasira said there was no need for customers to congest revenues halls as they can use alternative platforms to buy electricity. “You get the same units when you buy using Ecocash, from our revenue halls or from Powertel, actually from any platform. There is therefore no reason to spend time in queues at revenue halls,” said Mr Gwasira.

He advised members of the public to seek information from the company’s official sources.

“When people want information, they should visit our official sites which is our Twitter handle, Instagram or website. Those who are not techno-savvy can get information at our offices.”

Mr Gwasira said Zesa was promoting power saving which would lead to improved electricity supply.
“The impact that this will have is two ways. Firstly, you will see people no longer wasting power. We are importing power at huge cost; US$15 million a month and this power is being wasted. Maybe wasting is a strong word but it wasn’t being used productively. We will then pay for the rightful usage. Secondly, in the short term we are building up resources. Our balance was very very thin.

“But if you go to the medium and long term, we are building resources. I’m sure now you have seen small incremental improvements. We have moved away from 18 hours of load shedding, if we create this reservoir of money, there is money in the interbank rate, then we can use the Zim dollar money that we are getting to purchase US dollars so that we are then able to import more,” said Mr Gwasira.

He said the increase in power tariff is not meant to pump up pockets of Zesa employees but to improve electricity supply in the country.

Mr Gwasira said the public was raising concerns about steeper tariffs but the reality is that Zesa rates were the lowest in the region as they were last increased in 2011.

Residents who spoke to the Chronicle in the electricity queues admitted that they did not have correct information regarding new Zesa electricity tariff structure.

Some of them said they had run out of power so they joined the long winding queues after they heard that electricity was cheaper if bought at the Zesa banking halls. — @nqotshili