Retail and commercial consumers will begin to enjoy reduced power retail prices.
The Electricity Regulatory Authority (ERA) of Uganda has reduced the end–user tariffs for a domestic consumer from Shs651 to Shs640.2 per unit. A commercial consumer such as a miller or welder will pay Shs578.3 down from Shs587, while the tariff for a medium industrial consumer has reduced from Shs544 to Shs536.2 per unit. On the other hand, a large industrial consumer will pay Shs361.1 down from Shs369 per unit.
The ERA chief executive officer, Mr Benon Mutambi, attributed this to the appreciation of the Ugandan Shilling against the dollar and the reduction in the international fuel prices.
“The Uganda Shilling appreciated by 0.25 per cent against the United States Dollar, from Shs3,357 in the base period toShs3,348 as at the end of February 2016,” Mr Mutambi, an economist, said through an April 8 notice. “The resultant effect is a negative exchange rate adjustment factor of minus Shs1.2 per kilowatt for domestic consumers, -0.1 per kilowatt hour for commercial consumers, -1.0/kwh for medium industries industrial consumers and -0.8 for large industrial consumers.”
He said over the same period, the international fuel price reduced from $44.3 per barrel used in the determination of the base tariffs to $32.5 per barrel as at the end of February.
However, the US producer price index, which likes the international fuel price, foreign exchange rate and core price inflation, is factored in the determination of tariffs, increased from 193.2 to 194.9 over the same period. Dr Mutambi said the new tariff will apply to all consumer bills for the months of April through June 2016.
