1. NERSA National Energy Regulator of South Africa
Presentation to the Portfolio Committee on Energy
17 September 2013

2. AGENDA Energy Regulator Overview
Regulation of the Electricity Supply Industry
Current Structure of the Electricity Supply Industry
Engaging Consumers and Stakeholders
Challenges

3. The Regulatory ‘Cycle’ in South Africa
Elemental parts:
Make – In South Africa this is predominantly in the Sphere of National Government
Operate – administering and enforcing regulation which is predominantly in the realm of the Energy Regulator (NERSA)
Review – assessing regulation and making any adjustments required.

4. LEGISLATIVE EVIRONMENT
POLICY
LAW
REGULATIONS
RULES
GOVERNANCE
PARLIAMENT/
GOVERNMENT
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
NERSA

5. Legislative Context National Energy Regulator Act, Act No 40 of 2004;
Independent Regulator: 4 full time and 5 part time members
Responsible for the regulation of three energy industries: electricity; piped gas; petroleum pipelines
Decisions based on reasons, facts and evidence
Public meetings/hearings
Industry legislation
Electricity Regulation Act, 2006 (Act No. 4 of 2006) as amended in 2007
Gas Act, 2001 (Act No. 48 of 2001);
Petroleum Pipelines Act, 2003 (Act No. 60 of 2003);
Electricity Regulations
Electricity Pricing Policy (EPP) GN December 2008
Electricity Regulations on New Generation Capacity GN May 2011

6. The National Energy Regulator
Established 1 October 2005 by the NERSA Act.
The Minister of Energy designates the members as follows:
One part-time member as chairperson
One part-time member as deputy chairperson;
One full-time member as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
Three full-time members to be primarily responsible for each of the regulated industries.
Three other part time members
The National Energy Regulator (NERSA) was established on 1 October In terms of the National Energy Regulator Act, 2004 (Act No. 40 of 2004), its mandate is to regulate the electricity industry in terms of the Electricity Regulation Act, 2006 (Act No. 4 of 2006), regulate the piped-gas industry in terms of the Gas Act, 2001 (Act No. 48 of 2001), and regulate the petroleum pipelines industry in terms of the Petroleum Pipelines Act, 2003 (Act No. 60 of 2003).
The Energy Regulator consists of five part-time members and four full-time members. A staff of about 100 persons (143 approved positions) support the Energy Regulator. The Energy Regulator has established eight subcommittees to assist it in its decision making.
NERSA must perform such other functions as may be assigned to it by or under these Acts. Its predecessor, the National Electricity Regulator (NER) regulated the electricity industry since 1995 until 16 July 2006.
NERSA is expected to proactively take necessary regulatory actions in anticipation of and in response to the changing circumstances in the energy industry. NERSA prepares a three year Strategic Plan and Business Plan annually to guide its planned activities in terms of the Public Finance Management Act, 1999 (Act No. 1 of 1999) (PFMA).

7. Budget of the Energy Regulator
The budget for the regulation of the three industries is ring-fenced in order to reflect the cost of regulating each industry appropriately as required by the NERSA Act.
The budget is funded by the industries through levies
Electricity: a levy on power generated by licensed generators and other funds
Piped-gas industry: “gigajoules (GJ) entered in the system” determine the relative percentage contribution of each pipeline licensee to the levy;
Petroleum pipelines industry: the levy is payable by the holders of the title to petroleum as it enters the system licensed by NERSA and is based on litres transported

8. The Regulatory Process
ER meetings are open to the public subject to Public Access to Information Act (PAIA)
Decisions of the Energy Regulator must be:
In writing, consistent with the Constitution and all applicable laws;
In the public interest;
Within the powers of the Energy Regulator as set out in the NERSA Act and the industry Acts.
Taken within a procedurally fair process in which affected persons have the opportunity to submit their views and present facts and evidence;
Based upon reasons, facts and evidence (summarised and recorded)
Explained clearly as to its factual and legal basis and reasons therefore
Decisions and reasons must be available to the public in terms of the PAIA
Persons affected by a decision of the ER may bring it under review by the High Court (provisions of PAJA)
Decisions of the ER sitting as a Tribunal may be appealed to the High Court
Any meeting of the Energy Regulator must be open to the public unless matters to be discussed include confidential, proprietary or commercially sensitive information which would detrimentally affect a particular business or industry if disclosed to the public in terms of the Promotion of Access to Information Act, 2000 (Act No. 2 of 2000).
Decisions of Energy Regulator must be
in writing and be consistent with the Constitution and all applicable laws;
in the public interest;
within the powers of the Energy Regulator, as set out in this Act, the Electricity Act, the Gas Act and the Petroleum Pipelines Act;
taken within a procedurally fair process in which affected persons have the opportunity to submit their views and present relevant facts and evidence to the Energy Regulator
based on reasons, facts and evidence that must be summarised and recorded; and
explained clearly as to its factual and legal basis and the reasons therefore.
Any decision of the Energy Regulator and the reasons therefore must be available to the public except information that is protected in terms of the Promotion of Access to Information Act, 2000 (Act No. 2 of 2000).
Any person adversely affected by a decision of the Energy Regulator may bring such decision under review by the High Court in accordance with the provisions of the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act, 2000 (Act No. 3 of 2000).
Any person may institute proceedings in the High Court to appeal a decision of the Energy Regulator sitting as a tribunal. Such an appeal shall be regarded as an appeal from the decision of a magistrates court in a civil matter.

9. Regulatory Principles
Regulatory principles guide the Regulator’s conduct and service delivery:
Rule of Law: Law applies to everybody and provides a clear framework for everyone to operate. Review and appeal by high court
Transparency: Reason for decisions and consultative processes;
Neutrality: Neutral to all market players without favouring one or other groups (non-discrimination)
Consistency: Explained decisions enabling stakeholders to take informed decisions – no surprises; predictability
Independence: Independence from stakeholders and politicians; within legal framework and published Government policy)
Accountability: Internal accountability – Regulator takes responsibility for actions and decisions.
In addition, NERSA binds itself to carry out its business efficiently, economically and effectively, as required by legislation.

10. Electricity Regulation

11. ENERGY REGULATOR (Electricity)
Custodian (stewardship), Enforcer of Framework
Efficient
Development
of ESI
ACHIEVE
Effective
8 GOALS
Sustainable
Operation
of ESI
Orderly
Having Regard to:
Governance
Efficiency
Effectiveness
Long term Sustainability
Safeguarded Interests of Present & Future Customers
ENSURE
2 Constraints
Safeguarded Needs of Present & Future Customers
INVESTMENT
in ESI
FACILITATE
3 Imperatives
TO ELECTRICITY
UNIVERSAL ACCESS
OF INTERESTS
FAIR BALANCE
Diversification
of Energy Sources
PROMOTE
3 Tasks
Efficiency
of Energy Use
Competitiveness
Customer choice

12. Functions Prescribed in the Electricity Regulation Act
Licensing of Generation , Transmission, Distribution ,Trading, Import and Export;
Regulation of tariffs and price structures;
Setting of licence conditions and standards;
Monitoring and enforcement of compliance;
Issue rules to implement national government's electricity policy framework, the integrated resource plan and the Act;
Investigate complaints;
Mediate or arbitrate in disputes;
Gather and store industry information
Register those who need to be registered.

13. REGULATION OF ELECTRICITY PRICES
Electricity Regulation Act, 2006 (Act No. 4 of 2006)
Section 4(a)(ii) says that the regulator must regulate prices and tariffs.
Section 15 (1) (a) says:- “must enable an efficient licensee to recover the full cost of its licensed activities, including a reasonable margin or return;”.
Section 15 (1) (c) says:- “must give end users proper information regarding the costs that their consumption imposes on the licensee's business;”
Section 15(1) (c) and (d) says:- “must avoid undue discrimination between customer categories” and “may permit the cross-subsidy of tariffs to certain classes of customers”
NERSA also has to comply with the Principles in the Electricity Pricing Policy document because Section 4 (a) (iv) says:- “issue rules designed to implement the national government's electricity policy framework, the integrated resource plan and this Act;”

14. REGULATION OF ELECTRICITY PRICES
NERSA uses a Revenue Requirement Methodology based upon the wording in the Acts which in turn leads to a rate of return methodology
The rate of return formula is as follows:
R = E + (V – d + w) r
Where:
R = required revenue
E = cost to supply
V = value of qualifying property, plant and equipment
d = accumulated depreciation on qualifying property, plant and equipment
w = allowance for working capital
r = rate of return using the weighted average costs of capital (WACC)

15. Eskom Price History Prices in Red actually applied MYPD 1 Decision
Revision 1: price in Dec 2007
Revision 2: 2008 price in Mar 2008
Interim
MYPD 2 Decision
Revision: 2012 price Mar 2012
MYPD3 Decision
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
Average Price Increase (%)
5.10
5.90
6.20
14.20
27.50
31.30
24.80
25.80
25.90
16.00 8
Average Price (c/kWh)
17.91
18.09
18.27
22.61
25.24
33.14
41.57
52.30
65.85
60.66
65.51
70.75
76.41
82.53
89.13
Prices in Red actually applied
Source: Eskom and NERSA

16. Licensing and Compliance Monitoring
The Act requires that anyone who is involved in Generation (Gx), Transmission (Tx), Distribution (Dx), Import/Exports and Trading should be licensed by NERSA
With each and every licence granted NERSA imposes licence conditions which should be complied with.
The ERA stipulates that the licensing process should not exceed 120 days
After a licence has been issued NERSA has to monitor for compliance – more than 200 licensees.
The Electricity Licensing and Compliance Department is responsible for these functions within NERSA.

17. Industry Structure

18. Industry Structure
It is dominated by the vertically integrated incumbent – Eskom
Eskom is responsible for the generation of 96% (~26 Power stations) of electricity in the RSA and 60% of Distribution
There are 188 licensed distributors, including Eskom Distribution
IPPs will sell to Eskom and not compete directly
Total licensees = 188 including Eskom :
174 Municipalities
13 Private Distributor
1 Eskom
Eskom Dx - distributes 60 % to end user customers
Municipalities and some private distributors distribute 40 % to end user customers

19. Transmission monopoly Distribution fragmentation
Current Structure
Eskom generation
Eskom transmission
Eskom distribution
Customers b
Customers a
Customers n
Generation oligopoly
Transmission monopoly
Distribution fragmentation
D 1
D 2
D 3
D n
Local authority
distributors
Municipal generator
IPP’s
(Outputs here are expected to be of an implementation nature rather than pure policy or research. As an example the EDI restructuring initiative requires that an appropriate trading framework is developed and implemented, that RED tariffs are non-discriminatory and that they can compete with other distributors for large customers, wheeling charges and mechanisms to calculate them are in place, non discriminatory access to distribution networks, and rationalization of tariffs within the new RED boundaries and cross subsidization )

20. SA Power Grid
(Outputs here are expected to be of an implementation nature rather than pure policy or research. As an example the EDI restructuring initiative requires that an appropriate trading framework is developed and implemented, that RED tariffs are non-discriminatory and that they can compete with other distributors for large customers, wheeling charges and mechanisms to calculate them are in place, non discriminatory access to distribution networks, and rationalization of tariffs within the new RED boundaries and cross subsidization )

21. Eskom’s Net Capacity Mix – 31 March 2010
Eskom Power Grid(1)
Eskom : Strategic 100% state owned electricity utility, strongly supported by the government
Vertically integrated across generation, transmission and distribution
Supplies approximately 95% of South Africa’s electricity (45% of the total electricity consumed in Africa)
40,165 employees as at 30 September 2010
Serves 3,000 industrial, 1,000 mining, 48,000 commercial, 84,000 agricultural and more than 4 million residential customers
27 (including 1 nuclear) operational power stations with a net maximum capacity of GW as at 31 March 2010
Total electricity sales of 218,591GWh
Infrastructure includes 390,338km of power lines and cables (all voltages) as at 31 March 2010
Committed to build 17GW new generation capacity, including 4,905MW already commissioned, expected by 31 March 2018
Existing grid system
Possible future grid system
Future hydroelectric power station
Future thermal power station
Hydroelectric power station
Interconnection substation
Thermal power station
Future interconnection substation
Nuclear power station
Future gas station
Gas power station
Town
(Outputs here are expected to be of an implementation nature rather than pure policy or research. As an example the EDI restructuring initiative requires that an appropriate trading framework is developed and implemented, that RED tariffs are non-discriminatory and that they can compete with other distributors for large customers, wheeling charges and mechanisms to calculate them are in place, non discriminatory access to distribution networks, and rationalization of tariffs within the new RED boundaries and cross subsidization )
Eskom’s Net Capacity Mix – 31 March 2010
Source: Eskom

22. South Africa Electricity Industry Statistics
Source: Eskom Figures as at March 2011

23. Engaging Consumers and Stakeholders

24. The Engagement Process
Engagement takes the following forms:
Customer Education Forums
NERSA staff conduct customer education forums where the customer is
Complaints resolution
NERSA has a department which sets out to resolve customer complaints and queries
This also tells us where the problems are

25. The Engagement Process Cont.
Public Consultation
Important decisions are preceded by a public consultation paper and the opportunity to submit written comment
Public Hearings follow
Public consultation is very beneficial and a great source of information and NERSA pays attention to what is submitted and presented
Decisions are then published on the website

26. Challenges

27. Challenges
Municipal Tariffs
Resellers
Accurate Information
Information Asymmetry with Eskom

28. THANK YOU
Website:
Tel:
Fax:
Kulawula House
526 Madiba Street
Arcadia
0007