By: Saidu Jalloh (Intern)
The Electricity Distributor Supply Power Authority [EDSA] has responded to the alleged proposed electricity tariff increase on the 19th September 2023 in a short video posted by the Ministry of Information and Civic Education.
EDSA made this respond due to the many calls and concerns raised by citizens in the country as there is not sufficient electricity and the too much hardship hitting the country and the economy.
Mrs. Kaday Turay, the Deputy Public Education Officer of EDSA said that they were about to make small adjustment and that the Electricity Distributor Supply Power Authority [EDSA] was not the one generating electricity and that they were buying it from their independent power providers, and they independent power providers were selling it to us in dollars and the dollar rates had increased.
“ In July 2022, we have been asked by the Electricity and Water Regulatory Commission [EWRC] to sell our electricity by 16 cents and that time the exchange was in 11 Leones and it has gone up to 22 Leones which has made EDSA to lose a lot money in proving light for the people of this country,’’ Mrs. Turay explained.
Mrs. Turay continued that government had decided to spend money on other developmental programs that has to do with Free Quality Education, Agriculture and Health Care and that was the reason EDSA had decided to do a little increase that would able EDSA to provide electricity for the people.
She added that the poor should not be worried as this increase would not affect them.
Alfred Kaima, Head of Economic Regulation Sierra Leone Electricity and Water Regulatory Commission [SLEWRC] expressed that SLEWRC had not been doing well because of the economics challenges in exchange rates, inflation and fuel, the energy cost was so expensive that they don’t had any other option but to increase tariff. Kaima also lamented that before now they had adjusted EDSA tariff to 16 cent but because of depreciation in the exchange rate and the value of the Leone had fallen and it had reach a time that time it was only the 11 cent in which we had been using and their revenue requirement for them to fully operate had been low.
“To even pay their operators which are Karpowership and other operators they are finding it very difficult and that is why they have come and apply for tariff increment,’’ said Alfred Kaima.
Alfred Kaima furthered that they have received EDSA proposed tariff increment but as a commission, he noted that they had to do due process when normally they apply for tariff.
“One we have to inform the public and two we gazette it and publish it in three major newspapers and also it is something we had discussed over radio so the process is going on after which we had something that we called comment period. A period in which people would give comment about the tariff, but that doesn’t necessary mean what they had proposed is the actual tariff”, he explained.
Alfred Kaima assured the public that the proposed increase tariff was still subject to review and approval and stated that after they have had those comments the board would seat down and look into those comments and at the end of the day the board would come with the actual tariff.