Eskom unbundling, ERA promulgation will demonstrate electricity reform ‘political will’

Energy Council of South Africa CEO James Mackay believes an expedited promulgation of the Electricity Regulation Amendment (ERA) Bill together with the unbundling of Eskom will send a clear signal to stakeholders and investors that the “political will” exists to place the country’s poorly performing electricity sector on a sustainable pathway. He tells Engineering News that South Africa’s current market structure, which is dominated by a single vertically integrated utility, is out of line with the markets in operation in other developed and developing economies and is, thus, an impediment to much-needed generation, transmission and distribution investment.