Chamber's proposal gives an "almost bearable" alternative

Chamber's proposal gives an "almost bearable" alternative - Dick Kruger, CoM

[miningmx.com] -- THE South African Chamber of Mines has proposed an alternative to Eskom's tariff hike, giving the industry something it would find "almost bearable", said Dick Kruger, assistant adviser in techno-economics at the chamber. Eskom has asked the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) to approve an annual 35% tariff hike over the next three years, meaning electricity would be 147% more expensive than it is now. The chamber argued this was unacceptable. "That will hit the mining industry, especially the deep-level gold mining industry, very, very hard. We have already over the last three years spent a lot of money and done a lot of things to curtail our demand," Kruger said on SAfm Market Update. "We cut about 400MW from peak demand, but now it's becoming more and more difficult. All the easy things have been done. And if you have an old section or an old shaft with, say, a five- to seven-year life, is it really worthwhile spending a lot of money to cut the energy, or do you close it?" It will raise the contribution to costs from electricity to 25% from around 14% now. "We believe it's just unsustainable and unacceptable." The chamber's proposal is that the government stump up a total of R21bn over three years, keeing the price hike at 25% a year over that period. "It's almost bearable," he said.