The Electricity Regulation Amendment Bill looks highly unlikely to be finalized before the end of the year.
The delay in the formal submission of the bill to parliament caused an outcry by business as the bill is vital for the liberalisation of the energy market.
The fear was expressed it would not be promulgated under the current government and would have to wait until after next year’s elections.
The bill will establish an independent transmission system operator that will allow for the impartial access of independent power producers on to the grid and for the crucial expansion of the constrained transmission network.
It will accelerate the liberalisation of the energy market and provide a national framework for wheeling, which is the distribution of electricity between private players.
A delay in finalising the bill will delay the unbundling of Eskom into a separate transmission company.
Committee chair Sahlulele Luzipo recognised the urgency to process the bill, and said it would be a race against time. This would not be necessary if the bill had been tabled earlier. There was a high level of interest in the bill that added to the pressure, he said.
Adverts will go out shortly requesting public comment on the bill with 30 days being given for these submissions. Oral hearings will follow if they are requested.
The committee will also conduct public hearings in four districts in each of the nine provinces. In terms of the committee’s provisional programme these processes will take until December 3, with no provision being given yet for the committee’s deliberations on the bill.
The National Assembly has a recess from September 29 to October 9 and rises for its December-January recess in early December.
Source: https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/national/2023-09-06-prospects-look-bleak-for-committee-to-finalise-energy-bill-this-year/
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