Tanesco hits back

New customers of the Tanzania Electric Supply Company Ltd (Tanesco) network will now have to buy equipment needed for installing service lines, under a new arrangement announced yesterday.

The pronouncement is in response to the Energy and Water Utilities Authority (Ewura`s) action of barring Tanesco from increasing connection charges by 100 per cent without its consent.

Speaking exclusively to The Guardian yesterday, Tanesco Public Relations Manager Daniel Mshana said for the time being, as they were waiting for Ewura to respond to their price hike application, customers would have to purchase equipment needed for power line connection.

Mshana, who was reading on the telephone a statement issued by the company�s Director General, Dr Idris Rashid, said: "Since the new charges have not been approved by Ewura, for the time being, Tanesco has decided not to connect new customers by charging old service-line installation rates. Customers have been advised to buy themselves the materials if they want to be connected."

He said the company was spending a lot of money to buy materials needed for connecting service lines.

Mshana said the decision had been made to relieve Tanesco of the burden of purchasing the materials, which were sold at high prices.

He said under the previous arrangement, the company was covering all the material costs and the amount charged was in fact lower than the actual cost incurred.

Mshana made it clear that Tanesco would no longer shoulder the burden.

On Friday, Ewura quashed Tanesco`s plan to hike domestic power connection charges on the grounds that the firm had failed to secure mandatory approval for proposed changes as required by the law.

Tanesco was all out to hike the charges by more than 100 per cent this month. A subsequent customer uproar invited Ewura's intervention.

The power utility firm is currently waiting for Ewura to bless the new tariffs, which it had earlier sought to effect behind Ewura's back.

Last week, Ewura instructed Tanesco to explain why it had unilaterally decided to impose higher tariffs.

Tanesco is proposing new connection fees ranging between 563,271/- and 3.78m/- for consumers using pre-paid meters, popularly known as LUKU, and between 497,482/- and 2.4m/- for those using ordinary meters.