By Angel Navuri
Sustained pressure to help taxpayers pay less for electricity has achieved positive results, with the government now negotiating with independent power supply firms on new cost-saving modalities.
The new terms the government is said to be after include having private power-generating companies contracted under the power purchase agreements (PPAs) to prefer gas to diesel in producing power.
Energy and Minerals minister William Ngeleja told The Guardian in a recent interview in Dar es Salaam that his ministry was representing the government in discussing with producers under the PPA arrangement on how to effect the switch smoothly and efficiently.
He said Independent Power Tanzania Limited (IPTL) was among the firms contacted for comment on the idea.
He said an estimated $1m would be saved each month if the plan worked, leading to a cut-down in both domestic and industrial bills ``because generating power from diesel generators is more costly than going for the gas option``. IPTL and most other PPA companies operate power generating equipment designed to use diesel - not gas.
``The government is negotiating with IPTL and other private power producers on how they can make their generators and other equipment run on gas instead of diesel.
If that works, we will be able to save around $1 million (equivalent to over 1bn/-) per month,`` noted the minister.
Bashir Mrindoko, Energy and Petroleum Commissioner in the Energy and Minerals ministry, meanwhile said the savings would amount to $3.4million if the proposed arrangement succeeded.
That would mean much lower power charges for consumers than is currently the case.
Dr Idris Rashid, managing director of the giant but beleaguered state-owned Tanzania Electric Supply Company Ltd (Tanesco), told The Guardian in February this year in another exclusive interview that the hiked power tariffs the firm was charging were unavoidable if they were to meet operational costs.
He said skyrocketing oil and gas prices were forcing Tanesco to hike tariffs from time to time ``to a level necessary for us to keep running and provide one of the key inputs in sustaining industrial development and domestic life``.
According to the Tanesco website, the current power charge per unit is 40/- for domestic users consuming between 0 and 50 kWh and 128/- for those consuming more than 50 kWh.
The corresponding charge for general users consuming more than 283 kWh is 106/-.
Most of the 10 per cent of the Tanzanian population with access to electricity fall under the first two categories, while manufacturing industries and other big electricity users (from 7,500kWh to 11KV) are currently charged between 65/- and 70/- per kWh.
- SOURCE: Guardian
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