The Electricity Regulatory Authority (ERA) declared that most consumer categories would see a reduction in electricity rates beginning in January.
Speaking to reporters on Friday, Dr. Sarah Kanaabi Wasagali, the chairperson of the ERA, announced a 5.2% cut for the January–March first quarter of the new year.
Commercial customers will now pay shs575.2 per unit instead of shs606.2, and domestic users’ tariff would drop from shs803.0 to shs606.2 per unit.
The price per unit will now be Shs367.1 for service providers, Shs417.8 for medium-sized businesses, and Shs351.5 for major manufacturing firms.
However, the public amenities tariff will now be shs360.0 per unit, while extra-large industries will now pay a tax of shs299.1.
According to the chairperson of the ERA board, the 5.2% cut will result in a 155 billion shs reduction in the cost of electricity distribution.
As UETCL’s energy purchases increase, Dr. Wasagali ascribed this decrease in electricity rates to the anticipated demand growth, which is estimated to climb at an annual rate of about 10.4%.
“The fully commissioned Karuma hydro power plant will contribute to the 2025 energy generation mix, but Umeme Limited’s licenses and concession agreement for the distribution and supply of electricity will also contribute to this reduction in power tariffs on March 31,” she stated.
The chairperson of the ERA board stated that the quarterly tariff increases will be implemented in accordance with approved costs, inflation, exchange rate variations, and international gasoline prices.
She also said that a public amenities category that includes street lighting and public hospitals will eventually replace the street lighting category, and that medium and big industrial categories will be separated to differentiate between manufacturing and service-based clients.
According to Wasagali, “the domestic cooking tariff at shs412 per unit for consumption between 81 kwh and 150 kwh per month and the declining block tariff structure for large and extra-large industrial consumers will continue.”
Ruth Nankabirwa, the Energy Minister, stated that the government is dedicated to further lowering the cost of electricity in the nation in her remarks regarding the power tariff reduction.
