Electricity Regulatory Authority (ERA) has announced that starting January, electricity tariffs for most categories of consumers will reduce.
Addressing journalists on Friday, ERA chairperson, Dr.Sarah Kanaabi Wasagali announced a 5.2% reduction for the first quarter of the new year which runs between January and March.
Consequently, the tariff for domestic consumers will reduce from shs 803.0 to shs606.2 per unit, commercial consumers will now pay shs575.2 from shs606.2 per unit.
The medium manufacturers will pay shs417.8 per unit, large manufacturing industries will pay shs351.5 while those involved in service will now pay shs367.1 per unit.
On the other hand, extra-large industries will now pay a tariff of shs299.1 while the public amenities tariff will now be shs360.0 per unit.
The ERA board chairperson said the 5.2% reduction will reduce the cost of delivery of electricity by shs155 billion.
Dr.Wasagali attributed this reduction to in electricity tariffs to the expected demand growth at an annual rate of approximately 10.4% with energy purchased by UETCL increasing.
"The end of Umeme Limited's licences and concession agreement for the distribution and supply of electricity on March , 31 will also contribute to this reduction in power tariffs but also the fully commission Karuma hydro power plant will contribute to the 2025 energy generation mix," she said.
According to the ERA board chairperson, they will continue to implement quarterly tariff adjustments based on inflation, exchange rate fluctuations, international fuel prices and other approved costs.
She also revealed that going forward, the street lighting category will be replaced by a public amenities category covering street lighting and public hospitals while medium and large industrial categories will be subdivided to distinguish between manufacturing and service based customers.
"The declining block tariff structure will continue for large and extra-large industrial consumers and the domestic cooking tariff at shs412 per unit for consumption between 81kwh and 150 kwh per month," Wasagali said.
Commenting about the reduction in power tariffs, the Minister for Energy, Ruth Nankabirwa said government is committed to further bringing down the cost of power in the country.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
"This achievement has led to saving the sector, the end user consumer and economy shs155 billion which underscores government's commitment to progressively making the cost of electricity affordable to support industrialization, fostering socio-economic transformation and improve the well being of Ugandans," Nankabirwa said.
She also applauded ERA for creating a specialized public amenities tariff category that takes care of public institutions, especially referral hospitals across the country.
