South African households are once again facing the burden of skyrocketing electricity bills, with the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA) approving tariff hikes of 8.76% for 2026/27 and 8.83% for 2027/28.

The increases, affecting Eskom’s direct customers from 1 April 2026 and municipal utilities from 1 July 2026, come as the regulator attempts to recover an additional R54.734 billion to correct its own errors.

NERSA’s spokesperson Charles Hlebela says the extra revenue is intended to correct a regulatory asset base error, with the total amount to be recovered in phases.

“The redetermination follows a High Court judgment which remitted NERSA’s decision on Eskom’s Generation Regulatory Asset Base (RAB) for 2025/26, 2026/27 and 2027/28 for redetermination. The redetermination was conducted using the approved MYPD4 (Multi-Year Price Determination) Methodology, following a public consultation process in line with the court judgement.”

Also read: Steeper electricity  price hikes loom as nersa settles with eskom after R54bn “error”

NERSA’s decision has sparked widespread outrage from both local government and labour unions.

The City of Cape Town’s Mayoral Committee Member for Energy, Xanthea Limberg says the steep increase is unfair to consumers.

“Instead of rubber stamping this additional Eskom tariff hike, NERSA should have completed a full, error-free assessment of Eskom’s financials. It is now public knowledge that Eskom is in a better financial position than forecasted to NERSA, based on actual interim Eskom financial results. In fact, Eskom is already generating substantial profits even under the lower originally approved tariffs.”

The City is now considering legal action against NERSA’s approval of the extra hike.

Meanwhile the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) warns that South African households will feel the strain, with tariff hikes far exceeding initial projections and placing additional pressure on already tight budgets.

Cosatu’s Matthew Parks says repeated increases above inflation since 2006 are not a sustainable solution.

“This hike by NERSA undermines the ongoing and already complex discussions between the Presidency, the Ministries for Electricity and Energy as well as Trade, Industry and Competition with Eskom and heavy intensive industries on a reduced electricity tariff that can enable smelters and other embattled sectors to keep their operations going and save their employees’ jobs.”