AG delay cripple southern regional electricity distributor plans

The establishment and operationalisation of the anticipated //Au-Ob Regional Electricity Distributor (RED) are currently stalled, with the blame being placed on the Attorney General (AG) for holding up the approval of a crucial shareholder agreement. Electricity Control Board (ECB) CEO, Robert Kahimise, expressed the energy regulator’s eagerness to see the RED come to fruition but highlighted the roadblock caused by the delayed approval.“On the southern RED, the //Au-Ob RED, as a regulator, we also want this RED to be operational, but there are shareholder agreements that need the AG approval. The last feedback we got from the AG is that those agreements are not yet signed, and we are constantly following up with them,” Kahimise said during an update into the ECB’s activities. “The AG approval is not given here, so once that is done, I think that will be a big step in operationalisation of //Au-Ob RED,” he added. The delay in finalising the shareholder agreement also meant that a substantive CEO can not be appointed in the interim, the ECB’s executive for technical regulation, Petrus Johannes said. “There is an interim CEO that was appointed to just make sure that he set up the company, but the last feedback that I got is that I think because of the delay in the agreement, his contract also came to an end, and I think the intention is to resuscitate the process once the agreements are finalised,” Johannes said. Service delivery woes Hardap Regional Council chairperson Gherson Dausab said the delay in establishing the RED meant that local authorities in the Hardap and //Kharas regions would not be able to deliver services effectively, thus affecting its inhabitants. “It is creating a problem in terms of service delivery. People who reside in the rural areas have to come to Mariental to buy electricity, so it is a problem in terms of service delivery, but I think we could have expedited the process. People are being affected in terms of service delivery so it is not what we expected,” Dausab said. It was imperative to get the RED to function to assess whether it would be able to deliver on its mandate, Dausab said. “Our terms of office are coming to an end as councillors. We want to see if this thing is working, if it is making a profit and so on. We do [however] believe that if the RED is up and running, we things will be run properly in the regions,” he said. As of the end of 2023, 11 shareholders had already signed up for participation. These include the Hardap and //Karas regional councils, the Keetmanshoop municipality, Karasburg and Rehoboth, as well as the Bethanie, Gibeon, Gochas, Matlahöhe, Stampriet and Koës village councils.A decade in the making The establishment of the southern RED came about as a result of an electricity distribution industry summit in 2014. The exit of the Southern Electrical Company (Selco) gave renewed impetus to the establishment of the regional distributor.Highlighting the advantages of regional electricity distributors, Namene said the three existing REDs have been effective at refurbishing and replacing aged assets and managed to contain and reduce network losses.“The REDs' contribution to the supply of electricity throughout Namibia has undoubtedly been a success,” the ECB has previously said. “RED business operations are viable and shareholders receive dividends. For local authorities and regional councils it further means that they can be assured that their electricity functions are performed by a competent entity, with the capacity to provide good quality electricity services at required standards to their consumers.”

AG delay cripple southern regional electricity distributor plans

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Republikein 2025-04-03

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AG delay cripple southern regional electricity distributor plans

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