Electricity Supply and Service Delivery
by the Hon. Minister of Energy and Power Development
Elton Mangoma
Preamble
The essence of this press conference is to acquaint you with the position of
the electricity supply situation, service delivery by the power utility,
setting the record straight on the disconnection of non-paying customers,
position of electricity imports and the general relationship with suppliers
of electricity imports.
There is a need for electricity consumers to pay for what they have consumed
so that Zesa has capacity to increase electricity availability to all
consumers. This is then done through more rigorous maintenance, increased
imports and installation of new capacity.
It is very disheartening to note that there are still customers who have not
paid at all since the advent of dollarisation in 2009, but yet these people
still expect to benefit from uninterrupted power supplies, part of which is
imported from the region.
This culture of non payment of bills will not be allowed to continue. I take
this opportunity to thank and applaud those customers paying their bills.
Zesa has intensified efforts to collect outstanding bills. The programme is
critical for sustaining operations i.e. carrying out maintenance, and
supporting the importation of electricity. There are prospects for
increasing imports from new stations being developed in the region.
Zesa is currently in discussions with the concerned developers and has to
position itself as a credit worthy off taker to be able to tap from these
sources. I therefore urge all our customers to pay their bills on time and
to bring all their accounts up to date.
We have to come out of the vicious circle where because bills are not paid,
supply reliability is compromised, and maintenance cannot be carried out and
imports cannot be paid for. Payment of bills is very important as we take
measures to build new power stations. We cannot raise funds to build new
power stations when the current of non payment prevails.
Zesa has availed to customers a facility to propose workable plans, and
regrettably some customers have chosen either to ignore this or not to
honour their payment plans, leaving Zesa with no option except to withdraw
supplies.
Disconnections of electricity
The Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC) has
intensified credit control to all defaulting customers so as to encourage
them to settle their outstanding amounts.
It is important to note that disconnection of electricity supplies should
always be undertaken as a last resort action after non-payment of bills and
failure to proffer credible payment plans.
Power connections are currently being applied wholesomely to ensure that all
customer categories meet their obligation of paying for service rendered.
ALL CUSTOMERS currently in arrears run the risk of disconnections. ZETDC is
owed over US$450 million by customers, revenue that could be used to pay for
electricity imports, purchasing of spares for infrastructural maintenance,
fund for coal deliveries, among other areas for the good of the nation.
However, disconnections in future will be done after providing a
disconnection notice for a period of at least five days.
Accuracy of bills
It has come to my attention that some of the bills are not accurate and in
some cases fraudulent. I have instructed Zesa to attend to all queries that
the customers have so that they are satisfied with the accuracy of their
bills. I have been assured that the bills do not include pre-dollarisation
consumption. Those not clear should have their bills verified.
Reconnections
For the avoidance of doubt, this is the policy that Zesa is going to
implement to address the debtors position.
To avoid disconnection, or for those who have been disconnected, so as to be
reconnected: –
– A minimum down payment of 25 percent of the total bill has to be paid.
– Balance to be paid in an approved payment plan with Zesa for a period not
exceeding six months.
– Any customer who breaches the payment plan will be disconnected
immediately without further notice.
– Current bills to be paid in full.
As a ministry, we have taken a position that all defaulting customers will
have their service withdrawn as an encouragement for them to pay up their
bills. This policy will be applied to all customers fairly, without fear or
favour. May I make it clear that the current disconnection exercise is not
sparing anyone.
Customer service issues:
The ministry has received calls of poor customer relations by some staff
members of the ZETDC wherein frontline are vindictive where disconnections
are being done without due processes being followed and where some employees
are conniving with customers to prejudice the power utility of its
much-needed revenue, among other unbecoming behaviour. May I make it clear
that such unbecoming behaviour and bad customer relations will lead to
severe reprimand, including immediate dismissals, as such elements have no
place in such a critical organisation to the socio-economic fabric of the
nation.
HCB Debt:
Zesa Holdings has always enjoyed cordial relations with Hydro Cahorra Basa
(HCB) for the provision of power imports. Plans have been put in place to
ensure that Zesa conforms to an agreed payment plan. Currently the debt
stands at about US$80 million, down from about US$100 million a few months
ago. A further payment of US$40 million is planned for in the near future
and arrangements for this are at an advanced stage. The HCB debt is to be
serviced well if we are to avoid disconnection. A delegation of HCB is
coming this Sunday for further negotiations with Zesa and we need to provide
a concrete payment plan.
Prepaid metering:
ZETDC recently concluded contract negotiations with successful bidders on
the prepaid metering project. The installation will be done by the meter
suppliers and this strategy is to ensure that the roll out takes place
within the shortest possible time and the plan is to have the meters
installed over a period of 18 months. The meters being procured will put to
rest the issue of customer complaints as regards billing bills perceived as
huge, and allow customers to manage their consumption. Zesa has since
exhausted the 10 000 prepaid meters it had in its inventory and is
concluding negotiations with four suppliers of meters over installation.
Expansion projects (Batoka Gorge)
At the 29th ZRA Council of Ministers Meeting (COM) the issues regarding the
ex-CAPCCO assets debt and the Batoka Hydro Power Project were discussed and
concluded as follows:
Zambia accepted the payment of the principal debt amount of US$70.8 million
by 31 March 2014. A Settlement Agreement for the ex-CAPCCO assets debt was
signed by the two governments. The COM agreed that a Committee led by the
Zambezi River Authority and including officials from the two ministries
responsible for energy immediately start taking steps to implement the
Batoka Gorge project. The ministry is setting up a project implementation of
the Batoka Hydro Power Project. The first objective is to set up agreed
timelines and terms for engaging Independent Power Producers to enable the
Authority to call for expressions of interest or going to international
tender as soon as possible. Batoka Gorge will produce 1600 to 2000 MW of
power, 50 percent of which will be for Zimbabwe.
I thank you.
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MDC Information & Publicity Department