State-owned electricity utility Eskom believes the decision of the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) to upheld an appeal by National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) and Eskom relating to implementation of a clawback mechanism in South Africa’s tariff-setting methodology opens the way for regulator to consider two further regulatory clearing account (RCA) applications that have been held in abeyance amid legal uncertainty. The uncertainty over the application of the RCA arose after an August 2016 North Gauteng High Court judgment, which found Nersa’s approval of Eskom’s multiyear price determination (MYPD) RCA application for 2013/14 to be unlawful. Nersa granted Eskom, which applied to recoup lost revenue of R22.8-billion for the financial year, a partial clawback of R11.2-billion, which translated into a tariff hike of 9.4% in 2016.
