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The JERC Meeting Some Points

 

JERC Meeting Some Points

I attended the JERC (Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission) Meeting yesterday 25/07/2025. Democracy in action. As consumers we get our say. A lesson I learnt, first there were only three ladies present, one was the second judge (count her out), one presented on behalf of the company licensee CPDL (count her out) and one was a journalist. One policewoman was also there. Let us count them out too. 

Not a single lady consumer was there. Surely they should be present. And make their concerns felt and expressed. They would be heard too.  I and a few others did circulate our views and the need to attend but it was not responded too.   We  tried to mobilise ladies and told them to read up but to no avail. It was stated to be too complex and layered in too much details.

Secondly, among those attending it was predominantly an older profile in age as regards the males too. The only youngsters were the journalists. If the youngsters do not attend or read up for what awaits them on tariffs and investments by the CPDL then stop cribbing later. About the Administration and the CPDL.

Thirdly painfully long winded speeches rather than to the point straight up concerns including lots of advise and harking back to the past. One person who served earlier was giving advise on maintenance. The Judge had to repeatedly ask gently, any words on tariffs or say this is outside our purview. We tend to equate the stating of views with speeches. And a lot of formality and thanks. And self introductions which are too long.

On the whole the ones who pointed out straight up the issues and their views on tariffs made their point heard. Hopefully we will be spared a major increase in tariffs, we already have undergone one steep increase just a year ago. It’s a complex structure, the way tariffs are cascaded, but the facts did come out.  The Company / licensee will purposely obfuscate at places and try to camouflage the extent of increase or introduce certain fixed charges to manage resources. It is for us to read through, narrow down to the crux as regards the exact expenditure proposed and on what specifically, assess what is required and then assess the proposed tariffs. Do not leave out the tariffs. That is the essence of it.            

The point is we must make our voice heard. And effectively. It matters.     

 

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