Zorena Jantze<\/p>\n
IT will be lights out for most towns and villages in the south as well as north of the country, with only a few entities settling their debt to NamPower. A total of N$174 million has been paid toward the over a billion owed to the Namibia Power Corporation, as revealed by NamPower’s Managing Director, Kahenge Haulofu. The power corporation will commence its power disconnection plan from June 5, 2023, to recover the debt.<\/p>\n
A total of 17 town and village councils, as well as NORED Electricity (Pty) Ltd, which supplies electricity to multiple northern towns, will face electricity disconnection from 17:00 until 21:00 today. According to the disconnection plan, towns can be disconnected for up to 24 hours in the final stages.<\/p>\n
One of the town councils, namely the Rehoboth town council, explained that it is unable to settle its debts. Amanda Ludmilla Groenewaldt, Rehoboth’s Mayor, expressed the town’s precarious financial position, stating that the revenue generated from electricity is currently not enough to cover the cost of electricity and pay back NamPower.<\/p>\n
“We are faced with dire circumstances beyond our control. The council has been working to curb the growth of our power debts. However, this has been a struggle as revenue generated from the sale of electricity does not sustain the usage of electricity by the town. In 2021, the town council signed an agreement to pay N$500,000 toward our outstanding debt. However, the monthly interest amounts to about N$1.2 million. The funds generated through the sale of electricity are not sufficient to recover the cost of electricity,” Groenewaldt said.<\/p>\n
In light of the impending power disconnections, Groenewaldt said that the town council had engaged with the Electricity Control Board (ECB) to explore possible solutions. It was discovered during the meeting with the ECB that the current tariffs charged in Rehoboth are two years behind what NamPower currently charges. These outdated tariffs are not sufficient to keep up with payments, cover the town’s current debts, or maintain the infrastructure.<\/p>\n
Groenewaldt further mentioned that the town experiences a 40% electricity loss due to an ineffective and outdated electrical network. This loss is caused by illegal electricity connections, bypassing or theft, as well as defective infrastructure.<\/p>\n
While NamPower empathizes with the plight of the southern towns, they said that the only solution is for the Rehoboth town council to settle its outstanding debt of N$171 million within 12 months. This means the council would have to pay N$21 million per month. However, Groenewaldt declared this to be impossible as the revenue generated from the sale of electricity is only N$6 to 7 million.<\/p>\n
“Please take note that these electricity shutdowns are not due to insufficient electricity supply but rather due to the local authorities defaulting on payments for electricity usage and outstanding debts. The Rehoboth town council finds itself in this situation due to towering historical debts and the fact that the electricity usage of the town surpasses the monthly revenue. Unfortunately, Rehoboth has encountered challenges over the years that have become harder to tackle alone,” Groenewaldt said.<\/p>\n
The towns and village councils affected by the electricity disconnection plan include Rehoboth, Mariental, and Karasburg municipalities. Others affected include the Aranos town council, as well as the Maltahohe, Bethanie, Tses, Koes, Leonardville, Bersaba, Kalkrand, Stampriet, and Aroab village councils. Business entities affected include NORED Electricity Pty Ltd.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Zorena Jantze IT will be lights out for most towns and villages in the south as well as north of the country, with only a few entities settling their debt to NamPower. A total of N$174 million has been paid toward the over a billion owed to the Namibia Power Corporation, as revealed by NamPower’s …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":341039,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33,27,24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-341040","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-breaking-news","category-business","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n