LESOTHO ELECTRICITY AND WATER AUTHORITY
PUBLIC NOTICE ON LESOTHO ELECTRICITY COMPANY’S APPLICATION TO INCREASE ELECTRICITY TARIFFS FOR THE MULTI YEAR PERIOD 2023/24 – 2025/26
A. Introduction
The Lesotho Electricity and Water Authority (LEWA) informs Electricity Supply Industry (ESI) stakeholders and the general public that the Lesotho Electricity Company (Pty) Ltd (LEC) has filed an Application for upward adjustment in electricity tariffs for various customer categories for a multi-year period 2023/24-2025/26. The Application was submitted on 28 September, 2023 and it is in line with Section 24 (3) of the LEA Act 2002 as amended (hereafter referred to as the Act). LEC holds a Composite Licence issued in terms of Section 50 of the Act.
B. The Application and Tariff Drivers that LEC cites therein
LEC has requested increases of 23%, 15% and 15% on both Energy and Maximum Demand (MD) charges across all customer categories for the Financial Years 2023/24, 2024/25 and 2025/26, respectively.
The proposed tariff adjustments will translate into a Revenue Requirement (RR) of M2.09 billion, M2.10 billion and M2.13 billion for the Financial Years 2023/24, 2024/25 and 2025/26, respectively. Table 1 below presents the breakdown of the RR as cited in the Application.
Table 1: Summary of LEC’s Revenue Requirement
| Projected Costs (in Maloti) | |||
| Aggregated Revenue Requirement | 2023/24 | 2024/25 | 2025/26 |
| Generation | 1 183 348 581 | 1 219 099 262 | 1 254 849 942 |
| Depreciation | 181 224 161 | 178 657 022 | 178 086 605 |
| Operating Expenses | 379 343 443 | 346 729 847 | 332 301 533 |
| Return on Capital | 350 224 051 | 357 663 409 | 365 238 748 |
| Total | 2 094 140 236 | 2 102 149 540 | 2 130 476 828 |
C. Invitation for Participation in Public Consultations
In accordance with Section 24 (6) of the Act, the ESI stakeholders and the general public are invited to participate in public consultations presented in Table 2 below:
Table 2: Public Consultations Schedule
| Activity/Task | Date | Time |
| Publication of the LEC’s Multi-Year Tariff (MYT) Application for public comments in the media | 18 January 2024 | 08:00 hours |
| Closing date for submission of written comments from stakeholders/public | 13 February 2024 | 17:00 hours |
| Radio Streaming and Simultaneous Broadcast Group 1 Radio LesothoRadio Maria Lesotho (Host)KEL RadioThato-ea-Hau FMMoAfrika FM | 29 January 2024 | 10:00-12:00 hours |
| Radio Streaming and Simultaneous Broadcast Group 2 People’s Choice FMRadio Maria Lesotho (Host)Harvest FMTŝenolo FMMoeling FM | 30 January 2024 | 12:00-14:00 hours |
| Mafeteng Community Radio | 30 January 2024 | 09:00-12:00 hours |
| Tšetšetha TV Program | 24 January 2024 | 20:30-21:30 hours |
| 31 January 2024 | 20:30-21:30 hours | |
| Meeting with Key Stakeholders, LEWA Conference Room | 02 February 2024 | 09:00 -13:00 hours |
| Mokhotlong, Mokhotlong Hotel | 06 February 2024 | 08:30-13:00 hours |
| Thaba-Tseka, Motherland Hotel | 08 February 2024 | 08:30-13:00 hours |
| Radio Souru | 06 February 2024 | 07:00-08:00 hours |
| Qacha’s Nek, New Central Hotel | 06 February 2024 | 09:00-13:00 hours |
| Pheshekwe Qhili FM | 07 February 2024 | 07:00-08:00 hours |
| Quthing, Kubung Hotel | 07 February 2024 | 09:00-13:00 hours |
Copies of the Application can be obtained from LEWA offices located in Maseru, Moposo House, Level 7. Alternatively, copies may be downloaded from the Authority’s website at https://www.lewa.org.ls/tariff-applications/. Stakeholders who are residing in the districts of the country may access copies of the Application from the District Administrators’ offices from 24 January, 2024.
D. Invitation for Public Comments
In terms of Section 24(6) of the Act, stakeholders and the general public are invited to make and forward their comments on the reasonableness of the proposed tariff adjustments in the Application before LEWA makes a final determination. The deadline for receiving written comments is 13 February, 2024.
Comments or enquiries may be sent to:
The Manager-Economic Regulation
Economic Regulation Department
7th Floor Moposo House, Maseru
P/Bag A315
Maseru 100
Email: lsekantsi@lewa.org.ls
Or
Tel : 22 312479
Fax : 22 315094
