The ManicaPost
ELECTRICITY consumption has fallen by 27 percent since 2012 when the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority introduced pre-paid meters. The parastatal is also pocketing $4 million per month from outstanding debts. Zesa spokesperson, Mr Fullard Gwasira confirmed the development in a recent interview with The Herald.Some quarters argue the drop could be as a result of users resorting to alternative sources of energy for heating and lighting. The introduction of pre-paid meters came following years of defaulting by electricity users. At some point they owed Zesa $1 billion.
This was exacerbated by the introduction of the multi-currency system as some of the users could not pay for the electricity that they were using.
“Since the migration of customers to the pre-paid metering system, the Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC) is recovering about $4 million per month from the revenue that is currently locked with defaulting customers,” said Mr Gwasira.
“Electricity consumption has dropped by 23-27 percent as customers are now conscious of conserving electricity as they are paying upfront for the power. “There is now a direct relationship between power consumption and payment.
“With prepaid meters, people are now consuming what they pay for beforehand.”
While some sections believe the drop in power usage was a result of users resorting to alternative energy sources, Mr Gwasira said low commodity prices have led to a slump in consumption especially in the mineral resource sector, which was a global phenomenon.
The $1 billion legacy debt had been an albatross on Zesa and the country, which made investment in the electricity sector unattractive.
But Mr Gwasira said the power utility was now recovering what it was owed.
“ZETDC is managing well its revenue collection as there are mechanisms in place to ensure customer compliance. Such measures entail engaging customers in payment plans, discontinuation of service to encourage customers to honour their bills and in worst cases, the legal route is also pursued to recover the debt.
“Zesa has an efficient revenue collection system, which has ensured that about 40 percent of our collections are from pre-paid. This has ensured that we are able to meet our requirements for power imports and service obligations,” said Mr Gwasira.
He said to date, Zesa had installed about 560 000 pre-paid meters in domestic premises and small institutions countrywide.
The power utility intended to install an additional 130 000 pre-paid meters by early 2017 in new housing projects and consumption points that were still on the post-paid system. Meter tempering has been one of the challenges cited for low revenue collection by Zesa.
“ZETDC is pole mounting some prepaid meters that are in areas that are prone to vandalism while physical inspections are also being done by the power utility to establish whether there are any points that are consuming less or no power at all,” said Mr Gwasira.
He warned users against tempering with the meters reminding them such acts attract a 10 year jail term. – BH24.
