The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) has approved an Eskom tariff increase of 12,7% for this year which will come into effect on the 1st of April for direct customers.

The power utility initially applied for an electricity price increase of 36% for 2025, and they are likely to be disappointed by Nersa’s decision.

Following a detailed review of Eskom’s sixth Multi-Year Price Determination (MYPD6) application, NERSA granted the following revenue approvals:

R384.6 billion for 2025/26 (12.74% increase)
R409.5 billion for 2026/27 (5.36% increase)
R436.9 billion for 2027/28 (6.19% increase)

Eskom had initially sought R445.6 billion, R495.4 billion, and R536.8 billion for the respective years, which would have resulted in significantly higher tariff hikes of 36.15%, 11.81%, and 9.10%.

The chairperson of Nersa, Thembani Bukula, said that the decision had not been easy.

“We faced the challenge of balancing the conflicting needs of all of the stakeholders. On the one hand, we need Eskom to be sustainable. At the same time, we need Eskom’s electricity services to be affordable.”

Nersa also noted that Eskom must adhere to strict conditions, including quarterly reporting on expenditures.

The DA, who had lobbied against Eskom’s earlier, much higher request, were first out of the blocks to criticise Nersa, even though the increase granted to Eskom was far below what the power utility requested.

“The Democratic Alliance firmly rejects the National Energy Regulator of South Africa’s (NERSA) approval of electricity tariff increases, including a staggering 12.7% for the 2025/26 financial year, followed by further hikes of 5.36% for 2026/27 and 6.19% for 2027/28.”

The party’s spokesperson on Electricity and Energy Kevin Mileham says today’s announced tariff increases “build on the NERSA’s 4% increase to recover Eskom’s losses of R8 billion in the 2021/22 financial year. Effectively this is an increase of 16.7%.”

“The increase afforded to Eskom is 3x the national inflation rate and will put massive additional pressure on the prices of goods and services across the spectrum.”

Mileham says South Africans should not be forced to pay for Eskom’s years of financial mismanagement, operational failures, and wasteful expenditure.

“The Auditor General’s latest report on Eskom’s financial and operational performance highlights the core issues that continue to drive Eskom’s crisis—rampant corruption, wasteful spending, and a shocking inability to meet operational targets. Higher tariffs will only deepen the financial strain on households and businesses, without addressing the root cause of Eskom’s failure.”

While Eskom direct customers will start paying more for electricity on 1 April, municipal customers will only feel the effect of the higher tariffs from 1 July.